President Trump was playing with fire when he nearly went against the wishes of Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who had asked him not to pardon embattled Sheriff Joe Arpaio during his rally in the city on Tuesday night, August 21.
Arpaio, 85, was recently convicted of criminal contempt for disregarding a 2011 decision that ordered him to discontinue a program he instituted to profile immigrants for deportation. He is facing up to six years in jail for the crime, but some believe that the court will excuse him from having to serve out his sentence because of his age, and others believe that the President will grant him a pardon. Days ahead of Trump's anticipated rally hitting the city, Mayor Stanton warned that he would create a "volatile" situation if he were to use the rally to pardon Arpaio.
While Trump ultimately obeyed Stanton's wishes and announced that he would not discuss Arpaio, he did raise the issue and appeared to hint that a pardon is coming down the pike. “I think he’s going to be just fine,” Trump told the supportive crowd. “I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy.”
Source: huffingtonpost.com
