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Is Michele Bachmann Choosing Sheriff Joe Arpaio As Her Attorney General?

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Would Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann choose Arizona’s (in)famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio as her Attorney General if elected? Bachmann met with Arpaio yesterday (photo, above,) to “discuss critical border security issues.” Arpaio calls himself “America’s toughest sheriff,” and has taken a very public and outspoken stance against “illegal immigration” and border security, and has been a lightening rod, especially during the 2008 elections.

“According to the Bachmann campaign, the last-minute event was opened to press at the request of Arpaio’s staff. Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, has developed a national reputation for his tough treatment of illegal immigrants, and has become a hot commodity on this year’s campaign trail,” CBS News reported. “Arpaio’s aide Chad Willems said the sheriff received several calls from Bachmann prior to today’s meeting, and that he’s also been called by Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.”

This week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer scheduled the state’s presidential primary for Feb. 28, a move designed to win the state more attention from the candidates. According to reporters on scene, Bachmann’s plan to solve the “border issue” includes increasing security along the U.S.-Mexico border, and eliminating benefits for illegal immigrants such as tuition breaks for their children – a pointed reference to a law Perry enacted in Texas.

Arpaio’s endorsement has been highly coveted by presidential candidates over the years. Former Senator Bob Dole visited the sheriff’s Tent City (where he housed prisoners in non-air-conditioned tents in the middle of Phoenix’s blistering summers) during his unsuccessful 1996 presidential campaign. Arpaio endorsed George W. Bush in 2000, and then surprised many by endorsing Mitt Romney in 2008, over home-state candidate John McCain (the Arizona senator won the state and the GOP nomination).

…

The Tucson Citizen reported that Bachmann’s visit came as a surprise to many local Republicans. “NOT good form when a presidential candidate comes to Arizona and fails to notify the state party or Governor,” the paper quoted Shane Wikfors of the conservative blog Sonoran Alliance on a Tuesday night Twitter feed. In a follow-up Twitter message, Wikfors expressed dissatisfaction with the Bachmann campaign “for blowing off conservative supporters in AZ tonight!”

Wikipedia notes,

An analysis by the Maricopa County Office of Management and Budget, completed in September, 2010, found Arpaio has misspent almost $100 million in taxpayer dollars over the previous 5 years.

…

Arpaio has been a controversial sheriff. Arpaio’s practices have been criticized by organizations such as Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arizona Ecumenical Council, the American Jewish Committee, and the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. The editorial board of The New York Times called Arpaio “America’s Worst Sheriff”. Controversial issues surrounding Arpaio have included allegations of racial profiling, in which the ACLU has sued the sheriff.

…

In 2008 a federal grand jury began an inquiry of Arpaio for abuse of power, in connection with an FBI investigation. Arpaio is being investigated for politically motivated and “bogus” prosecutions, which a former US Attorney called “utterly unacceptable”. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon has called Arpaio’s “long list” of questionable prosecutions “a reign of terror”.

(Image: Facebook)

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BREAKING NEWS

Trump Indictment Is a Massive 34 Counts: CNN

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March 30, 2023

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When he appears in New York next week, Donald Trump will face a 34-count indictment.

CNN’s John Miller on-air Thursday evening announced, “I am told by my sources that this is 34 counts of falsification of business records, which is probably a lot of charges involving each document, each thing that was submitted, as a separate count.”

Attorney Tristan Snell, who assisted in the successful prosecution of the Trump University case for the New York Attorney General’s Office, responded via Twitter:

“This is WAY more than expected. If this is correct, it could mean that the indictment covers FAR more than the Stormy Daniels hush money — like Karen McDougal hush money or other hush money/catch-and-kill cases.”

READ MORE: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’

“My hunch for a while,” Snell adds, “given [David] Pecker’s involvement and the drawn-out timetable of the indictment, plus the TWENTY interviews of Michael Cohen with the DA, showed that something far larger than Stormy might be in the works.”

“May still be wrong, of course. But 34 counts is a LOT!”

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News

Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’

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March 30, 2023

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Donald Trump’s attorneys were notified Thursday afternoon a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict him on felony charges related to his alleged hush money payoff of a porn star he reported slept with.

The ex-president’ attorney recently said if indicted Trump would travel to New York to turn himself in.

The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has just issued a strongly-worded statement saying it is “coordinating” with Trump’s attorneys for his “surrender.”

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the statement reads.

READ MORE: ‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery posted the statement to Twitter.

NBC News explains the process, noting he is expected to be arraigned next week.

“After the indictment, Trump will be arrested and taken into custody. He will likely have a mug shot and fingerprints taken,” NBC reports. “Trump will then appear in court to be arraigned, where he will hear charges and enter a plea. Two sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that the former president is likely to be arraigned next week. Trump will either be jailed or released while pre-trial hearings take place.”

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'INDICTED FOR HIS BEHAVIOR'

‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

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March 30, 2023

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Just past 5:00 PM ET The New York Times broke the news that Donald Trump, the ex-president, had been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on felony charges.

It is a historic moment.

Legal experts are weighing in to help guide Americans through an event that has never before happened in this country.

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman says the fact that this is the first time in U.S. history a president is facing criminal charges is itself a problem.

“I think it would have not been a novel event,” Ackerman said on MSNBC, “if we had done this 49 years ago with Richard Nixon, and he had not been pardoned, this will not be a big event [that] it is today.”

READ MORE: New Poll Sends Trump Damning Message About 2024 if He’s Criminally Indicted

“Everybody should be held accountable,” Ackerman added, citing former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s earlier remarks. Cohen testified repeatedly before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump late Thursday afternoon after a three-hour session.

Ackerman lamented that despite over 30 people being indicted during Watergate, “Richard Nixon was pardoned, he wasn’t held accountable.”

“I think this is very important,” Ackerman continued, “establishing a principle, a line in the sand, that even if you’re the President of the United States, and you commit a crime, you can’t stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and just shoot somebody.”

Ackerman was referring to Trump’s infamous comments during the 2016 election, when he bragged he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Attorney and civil rights activist Maya Wiley, also on MSNBC, said, “It’s important and sobering that we had somebody who had the highest office of this country who has now ben indicted for his behavior, his acts, in order to win that office, but also faces what are more shoes that will drop, I believe.”

“It is a sobering moment for this country, that we are witnessing this happened to somebody who was entrusted with such power who has now had a jury of his peers, because that is what a grand jury also is, say we believe he had to face the music.”

READ MORE: Here’s How Five Republicans in Congress Are Responding to the Mass Shooting of 3 Children and 3 Adults in Nashville (Video)

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, now a professor of law, called this a “moment where we would do well to seriously assess who we are as Americans and who we are not as Americans, because we re all so familiar with Donald Trump’s tactics.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

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