Arpaio Reacts to Attorney General Eric Holder's Comment

Updated: Friday, 26 Mar 2010, 9:40 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 26 Mar 2010, 9:40 PM MDT

PHOENIX - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department's probe into Sheriff Joe Arpaio's racial profiling and abuse-of-power allegations "will produce results" -- and now the sheriff is reacting.

Sheriff Joe says the comments made by Holder were careless. He doesn't think the Attorney General should be guaranteeing results before the investigation is concluded.

But Holder didn't seem to hold back when asked about his department's investigation into the sheriff's office. He called it serious and that it "will produce results."

Friday, the sheriff is responding. "You can take that statement and take it any way you want but I think ethically the comment should have been no comment, it's under investigation. When you're saying results will occur standing next to people who have something to do with results, I don't think that's fair."

Holder made the remark Thursday while he was in town for a meeting on mortgage fraud.

The Department of Justice has launched a civil rights investigation into the sheriff's office -- specifically accusations of racial profiling during immigration sweeps.

But now the sheriff says Holder has put federal investigators in a tough spot by essentially guaranteeing results.

"Kind of putting pressure on them to come up with a conclusion against me, I've never heard of that before."

During his visit to the valley, the Attorney General wouldn't talk specifics or say when the investigation would wrap up.

There's also a federal grand jury investigating accusations that Arpaio is abusing his power by going after his political enemies. Several county employees have already testified in that case.

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