Feds cannot find enough evidence to chage Joe Arpaio

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
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Federal authorities say they're closing their abuse-of-power investigation into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona without filing charges against him.
Authorities were investigating America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff for his part in failed public corruption cases against officials who were odds with him. Arpaio brought cases against a judge and two county officials in 2009.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/3...iff-joe-arpaio/?test=latestnews#ixzz25BZg72Ec

Good. When there is not enough evidence to even charge someone, you should close your case against them.
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
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YESSS!!!!!

Take that obama, now this guy can get back to exposing the lies and corruption of the obama administration.
 

Double Trouble

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
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If Joe is doing illegal things, then I definitely want him to be accountable, but this sure smelled of political retribution to me. The justice dept has been after him for years because he basically thumbs his nose at the feds.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
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I like Arpaio just the same as I like Bachmann and Palin. The Repubs need millions more just like him, and the Dems would consider that a gift worth more than all the Akins in the world.
 

shira

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2005
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If Joe is doing illegal things, then I definitely want him to be accountable, but this sure smelled of political retribution to me. The justice dept has been after him for years because he basically thumbs his nose at the feds.

Your comment is pretty ironic. Because the things that Arpaio has been accused of - in this case and in state-level cases - are going after judges and other officials who oppose him. His colleague was disbarred for falsely prosecuting political opponents. Just look at the information contained in the linked story:

Authorities were investigating America's self-proclaimed toughest sheriff, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, for his part in failed public corruption cases against officials who were odds with him. Arpaio brought cases against a judge and two county officials in 2009.

The 79-year-old sheriff and his top ally, former County Attorney Andrew Thomas, were embroiled in a three-year feud with county officials and judges and defended their investigations as necessary to root out corruption.

Criminal cases against former Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe and county supervisors Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley were dismissed after a judge ruled that Thomas prosecuted one of the three officials for political gain and had a conflict of interest in pressing the case.

Authorities say the charges against Donahoe were filed in a bid to prevent the judge from holding a hearing regarding Arpaio and Thomas' claim that judges and county officials conspired to hinder a probe into the construction of a court building.

Donahoe had disqualified Thomas from handling the court building investigation and was poised to hold another hearing over a request to appoint special prosecutors to handle the probe. The hearing was called off after the charges were filed against the judge.

Thomas was disbarred in early April by an ethics panel of the Arizona courts that found he brought unsuccessful criminal cases against the judge and two county officials for the purpose of embarrassing them.

The justice department carries out investigations all the time. Actually charging someone and bringing a case to trial is a different matter altogether. Arpaio and Thomas actually brought cases to trial against their political opponents. The justice department hasn't sunk that low.
 
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Double Trouble

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
9,272
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Your comment is pretty ironic. Because the things that Arpaio has been accused of - in this case and in state-level cases - are going after judges and other officials who oppose him. His colleague was disbarred for falsely prosecuting political opponents. Just look at the information contained in the linked story:



The justice department carries out investigations all the time. Actually charging someone and bringing a case to trial is a different matter altogether. Arpaio and Thomas actually brought cases to trial against their political opponents. The justice department hasn't sunk that low.

I don't follow what you're trying to say. You think since he is (supposedly) engaged in that kind of stuff (political retribution) that it would be OK for the DOJ to do the same? Apparently they have not been able to substantiate the allegations against him to the level of being able to bring charges. I have no idea what sheriff Joe has or hasn't done, but the whole thing has the stench of politics to me.
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
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thraashman

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
11,063
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Why am I crazy for believing what I believe, but you arent crazy for believing what you believe? I already know the answer so save the bullshit, its because youre a liberal and therefore have to be right.

Or perhaps it's because the birther bullshit has been proven wrong so many times that to still believe it you HAVE to be a nutball.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
14,478
6,901
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Or perhaps it's because the birther bullshit has been proven wrong so many times that to still believe it you HAVE to be a nutball.

You can attribute that to those empirical studies which confirm that crazy people are too crazy to know they're crazy.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
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Your comment is pretty ironic. Because the things that Arpaio has been accused of - in this case and in state-level cases - are going after judges and other officials who oppose him. His colleague was disbarred for falsely prosecuting political opponents. Just look at the information contained in the linked story:



The justice department carries out investigations all the time. Actually charging someone and bringing a case to trial is a different matter altogether. Arpaio and Thomas actually brought cases to trial against their political opponents. The justice department hasn't sunk that low.

Isn't the entire point of the investigation to determine criminal activity? A judge he knows was disbarred, and rightfully so from the look of it, that doesn't make the sheriff guilty. If they had found evidence of a crime, they would have prosecuted. No evidence, no crime.
 

Wreckem

Diamond Member
Sep 23, 2006
9,458
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This is just one of the myriad of investigations/law suits against him. He's already lost several civil suits and has plenty more pending including several from the DoJ. Hes cost his county millions of dollars in legal fees but the idiots still vote for him.
 

MovingTarget

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2003
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Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/3...iff-joe-arpaio/?test=latestnews#ixzz25BZg72Ec

Good. When there is not enough evidence to even charge someone, you should close your case against them.

This. However, people should realize that this development doesn't affect Obama in the slightest. Joe Arpaio is still a crackpot, just an innocent one. I'm glad they dropped the charges due to the lack of a case though. Now, if news organizations would quit giving that idiot a soapbox to stand on...
 

marincounty

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2005
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No, they need to appoint a special prosecutor ala Clinton and spend millions of dollars on a never ending witch hunt, and I am sure they will find something on Sheriff Joe.
Democrats are too soft for hard-core politics.
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,284
5,056
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No, they need to appoint a special prosecutor ala Clinton and spend millions of dollars on a never ending witch hunt, and I am sure they will find something on Sheriff Joe.
Democrats are too soft for hard-core politics.

They did find several somethings on Clinton, that's why he was impeached. Like it or not, Clinton got caught, Joe didn't. Perhaps Joe was just a bit smarter than Bill?
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
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They did find several somethings on Clinton, that's why he was impeached. Like it or not, Clinton got caught, Joe didn't. Perhaps Joe was just a bit smarter than Bill?

Maybe it was due to all the inhaling clinton didnt do :p
 

shira

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2005
9,567
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I don't follow what you're trying to say. You think since he is (supposedly) engaged in that kind of stuff (political retribution) that it would be OK for the DOJ to do the same? Apparently they have not been able to substantiate the allegations against him to the level of being able to bring charges. I have no idea what sheriff Joe has or hasn't done, but the whole thing has the stench of politics to me.

You're right, you're not getting it. The justice department investigated. As in "collect information in order to determine if a crime has been committed." You seem to think that investigating someone for potential wrong-doing is unethical. You are aware, aren't you, that the FBI is a division of the department of justice? What do you think they do, sit on their hands all day and do nothing?

What evidence do you have that the justice department's investigation of Arpaio was "politically motivated?" Just read about Arpaio's fights with Arizona judges and other officials. There's plenty of smoke there, and if the justice department hadn't investigated, they'd be derelict in their duties.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
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Isn't the entire point of the investigation to determine criminal activity? A judge he knows was disbarred, and rightfully so from the look of it, that doesn't make the sheriff guilty. If they had found evidence of a crime, they would have prosecuted. No evidence, no crime.

To say that there was insufficient evidence doesn't mean there was no evidence. Had there been no evidence, there would have been no investigation.

Sometimes things fall into a grey area where prosecutors don't believe they can convince a jury, and sometimes the law realizes they were barking up the wrong tree. We'll likely never know wrt Sheriff Joe. At best, he's skirted the law every chance he got, every time it suited his agenda.
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
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I don't follow what you're trying to say. You think since he is (supposedly) engaged in that kind of stuff (political retribution) that it would be OK for the DOJ to do the same? Apparently they have not been able to substantiate the allegations against him to the level of being able to bring charges. I have no idea what sheriff Joe has or hasn't done, but the whole thing has the stench of politics to me.

I don't see why looking into potential wrongdoing and not finding enough to support official charges has "the stench of politics". Just because the target of the investigation in this case is a conservative headline grabber doesn't mean his potential wrongdoing SHOULDN'T be investigated, right?
 

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
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Or perhaps it's because the birther bullshit has been proven wrong so many times that to still believe it you HAVE to be a nutball.

No kidding...and birtherism has recently been replaced by returnerism, though that appears to be dying off as well.
 

cybrsage

Lifer
Nov 17, 2011
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This. However, people should realize that this development doesn't affect Obama in the slightest. Joe Arpaio is still a crackpot, just an innocent one. I'm glad they dropped the charges due to the lack of a case though. Now, if news organizations would quit giving that idiot a soapbox to stand on...

Agreed, but they give him his soapbox because it increases ratings.
 

CPA

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2001
30,322
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I don't follow what you're trying to say. You think since he is (supposedly) engaged in that kind of stuff (political retribution) that it would be OK for the DOJ to do the same? Apparently they have not been able to substantiate the allegations against him to the level of being able to bring charges. I have no idea what sheriff Joe has or hasn't done, but the whole thing has the stench of politics to me.

What he's saying is that the DOJ, the same department headed by the man behind Fast and Furious and the man that still will not present subpenaed records, is a well-respected organization that is a class above Sheriff Joe and should be admired for their caution.