Joe Arpaio has said he’ll cooperate with the federal investigation into whether he used his law enforcement powers to pursue political vendettas.
“I look forward to giving (investigators) everything that we have,” the controversial Maricopa County sheriff said over the weekend, according to a Phoenix TV station. “Everything on all of the investigations, then I’m going to shut this off.”
It’s not clear what Arpaio meant by “shut this off.”
A grand jury met last week for the first time in connection with the Justice Department probe. Numerous local officials, judges, and others have said that Arpaio targeted them for investigations after they crossed him.
Arpaio has sent mixed signals about his approach to the inquiry. He initially said he’d cooperate, but then hired a former Bush DOJ lawyer who has filed a series of what some call frivolous complaints, which appear designed to throw sand in the gears of the probe.
And now he appears to have once again signaled a willingness to cooperate.