[Wash Times] President Trump’s pardon of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio has set off a new round of recriminations, with Republicans saying they disagreed with the decision and Democrats saying it was an unforgivable abuse of power that presages still more political mischief.
Several anti-Trump lawmakers said the president was sending a signal to the Justice Department -- and even to special counsel Robert Mueller, investigating Russian meddling in the election -- that he is willing to go to great lengths to protect political allies.
Immigrant rights activists, meanwhile, said the president’s pardon was dismaying for Hispanics who for years had protested the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, and who mobilized en masse last year to defeat Mr. Arpaio, who was seeking a seventh term in office.
"It is disheartening that [the president] set the bar so very low for his first pardon," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat in the Senate. "It is a shame to see the pardon power devalued like this. The ex-sheriff is a self-aggrandizing braggart who promoted racist law enforcement practices and cost taxpayers millions, and that is a reason they did not re-elect him." |