Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio finds himself under increasing attack as he prepares to release new findings in his investigation of President Obamas eligibility for the states 2012 election ballot.
I have no intention of resigning, said Arpaio, who is running for his sixth term as sheriff of Maricopa County. They forget I have a four-decades long career in federal law enforcement that includes having been a special agent for the FBI and having worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency in the United States, as well as in Argentina, Turkey and Mexico.
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WND previously reported the intensity of attacks on Arpaio at both a state and national level.
Already, Arpaio has announced that his volunteer law enforcement investigation has found probable cause that Obamas long-form birth certificate and his Selective Service registration form are forgeries. Arpaio and his team made the announcement at a March 1 press conference.
A second press conference is expected in the next few weeks to announce more findings Arpaio suggests will be explosive.
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WND has previously reported that political operative Randy Parraz, a self-described organizer, has been running a determined campaign to oust Arpaio from office.
Parraz, together with a small group of activists operating under Parrazs newly formed organization, Citizens for a Better Arizona, have unsuccessfully tried to disrupt meetings of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to demand the oversight group vote to request Arpaios resignation.
Arpaio, an elected sheriff, cannot be removed from office by a vote of the county board.
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Meanwhile, establishment media have portrayed Arpaio as politically isolated and likely to face federal criminal and civil charges by the Justice Department in Federal District Court.
At the same time, media have downplayed Democratic Party scandals such as Fast and Furious, resignations from the Arizona U.S. Attorneys office and the possibility the U.S. Supreme Court could uphold the constitutionality of the Arizona legislatures bill to ensure its citizens are protected from civil and criminal offenses caused by illegal immigrants the federal government is unwilling to police.
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As WND reported, new impetus was given to the anti-Arpaio campaign by the recent disbarment of Maricopa County attorney Andrew Thomas in a complicated corruption case.
Establishment media have largely ignored, however, the fact that Thomas and Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Aubuchon were disbarred for filing criminal charges against Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe and two members of the Board of Supervisors, which oversees Arpaios office, Mary Rose Wilcox and Don Stapley. Both are determined Arpaio foes.
The corruption charges against Wilcox and Stapley were never adjudicated after a Pima County judge dismissed the case due to prosecutorial misconduct.
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Now, Arpaios opponents in Arizona are pressing for a federal criminal grand jury to press charges against him for his involvement with Thomas in trying to root out corruption in Maricopa County.
Even if no criminal trial results, Arpaios opponents hope to have him under federal criminal indictment at the same time the U.S. Department of Justice presses a civil case against him in the federal courts, alleging he has systematically implemented a policy of violating the federal civil rights of Hispanics.
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In July 2011, Dennis Burke, a prominent Democratic Party operative in Arizona, resigned as U.S. Attorney, just as the House Oversight Committee and an internal Justice Department internal investigation began focusing on the role Arizona played in Fast and Furious.
Before taking the job of U.S. Attorney in Arizona, Burke had served as chief of staff to Janet Napolitano when she was the governor of Arizona. He then was a senior advisor to Napolitano when she moved to Washington to become Homeland Security Secretary in 2009 under the in-coming Obama administration.
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The next resignation was by Patrick J. Cunningham, the head of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Arizona, who had announced he would take the Fifth Amendment rather than testify before Congress regarding the Department of Justices scandalous gun-running operation Fast and Furious.
In Arizona, Cunningham was widely regarded as Burkes No. 1 Guy, as noted by reporter David Codrea of the Gun Rights Examiner.
Consistently, Arizonas two Republican senators, Kyl and John McCain, have refused to come to Arpaios defense.
In March, WND reported Kyle and McCain had given their approval to the Obama administration nomination as U.S. attorney in Arizona of John Leonardo, a former Arizona judge with a history of judicial rulings adverse to Arpaio.
Leonardo, who retired last month as Pima County Superior Court judge, threw out an indictment in 2010 against Maricopa County Supervisor Wilcox, a Democrat and an outspoken critic of Arpaio.