Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be subpoenaed in a case involving former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to The Daily Beast.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be subpoenaed in a case involving former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, according to The Daily Beast.
The U. S. Justice Department is prosecuting Arpaio for an allegation of violating a federal judge’s order to discontinue immigration enforcement actions.
Arpaio’s defense attorneys aim to use Sessions to note irony that the Justice Department is prosecuting Arpaio for continuing to take actions against illegal immigrants that it has ordered so-called sanctuary cities to take, according to the Daily Beast.
“Same Department of Justice going after cities for not cooperating enough, ” Arpaio attorney Jack Wilenchik told the Daily Beast.
“What’s his worst sin? Cooperating too much… all this guy was ever trying to do is be a good cop, ” Wilenchik said about Arpaio.
The case stems from Arpaio promising to continue immigration enforcement with patrols that an Arizona federal judge in 2011 said was racial profiling.
The former sheriff’s lawyers want a jury trial in the case, because they say Sessions’ presence would sway a jury. “Juries speak common sense, ” Wilenchik said.
Federal law says criminal contempt cases do not have a right to a jury, and an appeals court struck down Arpaio’s attorneys’ request in May, according to AZ Central. The charge is a misdemeanor, and Arpaio has said his disobeying was not intentional.
Sessions will be testifying Monday to the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding questions about the firing of former FBI Director James Comey, CBS News reported.
Arpaio supported Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, and questioned the legitimacy of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
