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More of Sheriff Joe's "don't blame me, I didn't know my number one man David Hendershott was a crook"
Arpaio wasn't innocent in office's ethical fiasco by Robert Robb, columnist - May. 10, 2011 08:26 PM The Arizona Republic Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is trying to play the most audacious not-my-fault card in Arizona political history. An investigation by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu documented an ethical cesspool in Arpaio's office. Rampant favoritism in personnel decisions. Dodgy financial dealings. Investigations run amok. According to Arpaio, all of this has nothing to do with him. "Am I to blame for Hendershott's lack of forthcomingness about all the things revealed in this report?" Arpaio growled at a recent news conference. "I don't think so." Hendershott, of course, is Arpaio's former chief deputy, whose alleged misdeeds Babeu was primarily commissioned to investigate. That would be the same David Hendershott about whom Arpaio said, in October 2009 when the county wars were raging hot: "I support him 100 percent, and no one will make me drive him out whether it's bad publicity or politicians who don't like him." Let's pause for a reality check. What ultimately drove Hendershott 'round the bend, leading to the excesses that finally triggered his downfall, was an obsession with the chimerical grand county conspiracy, in which the county Board of Supervisors and senior managers were supposedly in corrupt cahoots with judges. The judges would protect the supervisors and managers against criminal investigations and charges, and the county would build the judges some really sweet office digs. Now, there was never any evidence ever offered that any such conversations or agreements ever took place. Nevertheless, Arpaio was a full-fledged subscriber to the conspiracy theory. He was a plaintiff in a civil racketeering lawsuit alleging it. He issued a news release and headlined a news conference trumpeting the lawsuit. Although the racketeering lawsuit was civil, it required alleging felony violations. Imagine that conversation: "Hey, boss. We want you to accuse every member of the Board of Supervisors, three senior county managers and four judges of committing felonies. Any problem with that?" Any sheriff with a true commitment to the rule of law would have had a big problem with that, given the lack of any concrete evidence. Arpaio did not. Today, Arpaio is evasive about the grand conspiracy. He won't say he was wrong to allege it. He just sort of waves it away. Everyone's getting along now. What are a few felony accusations between friends? Babeu's investigation appears thorough and credible, defying skeptics who see Babeu as an Arpaio wannabe. Arpaio wasn't a subject of Babeu's investigation, so there wasn't really an attempt to determine what Arpaio knew and when he knew it. Nevertheless, in his own news conference about the investigation's findings, Babeu largely gave Arpaio a pass. That won't wash. There is plenty in Babeu's report, the memo by Deputy Chief Frank Munnell that triggered it and other public records to fully implicate Arpaio in the ethical cesspool his office had become. The Babeu report clearly shows that the office staged the serving of a search warrant in one of the investigations of Supervisor Don Stapley to maximize media coverage of it. According to one deputy chief, Arpaio personally ordered that the search warrant be expanded beyond what was necessary to establish probable cause, presumably so it would read more salaciously in the press. According to Hendershott, Arpaio ordered Stapley arrested on a new set of charges shortly after the first set was dismissed, even though the prosecutor in the case and the chief investigator in Arpaio's office didn't think they were ripe yet. Arpaio told this newspaper he had ordered the arrest. Arpaio was told by legal counsel that the board had a right to financial records it was seeking, but allowed Hendershott to stonewall anyway. Arpaio had seen Hendershott blow up inappropriately at other senior staff. According to the Munnell memo, several senior members of Arpaio's staff had told him what a serious problem Hendershott's management had become. Under Arpaio, the Sheriff's Office became a rogue agency and a threat to the rule of law. Arpaio is to be blamed for that. Reach Robb at robert.robb@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8472. |