The Department of Justice's investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's alleged racial-profiling practices officially has become a PR showdown -- in response to the the DOJ's response to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's response to the DOJ's investigation, the MCSO has now issued (you guessed it) its response...kinda.
The MCSO's response: it will offer its response after it has a chance to "digest" the DOJ's response.
We'll start at the beginning...
Joe Arpaio became sheriff in 1993. He quickly learned that bootin' brown folks back to Mexico translated into votes in Maricopa County.
Fast-forward to December, when the DOJ released the findings of a three-year investigation into the MCSO's alleged racial-profiling practices. Its conclusion: the MCSO -- under Arpaio's leadership -- is guilty of the worst racial-profiling practices in U.S. history.
The DOJ gave Arpaio until January 4, to decide whether he'll cooperate with the feds in fixing the alleged problems at the MCSO. Arpaio, after calling the investigation a "political witch hunt," met the deadline -- by setting his own deadline, and making demands.
On January 4, Arpaio responded to the DOJ's demands by saying he'd be happy to cooperate as long as the DOJ coughed up the evidence that supported its claims that Arpaio's boys in beige were profiling Hispanics.
He gave the feds until today to respond.
Yesterday, the DOJ offered its response, which basically said Arpaio already had all of the evidence because the vast majority of it was given to the feds by the MCSO.
"In fact, the basis of our findings is largely in your possession," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez wrote in a letter to the MCSO -- which was also sent to New Times and, we're assuming, several other news outlets.
Last night, the sheriff's attorneys issued their response -- again, to the DOJ's response to the sheriff's response to the fed's investigation.
See the MCSO's response (to the response to the response) -- in its entirety -- below.
Arpaio's Response to the DOJ's Response...to Arpaio's Response.
