Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

President Trump asked Attorney General Jeff Session earlier this year to close the criminal case against former Arizona county sheriff Joe Arpaio, a partner in the crackdown of illegal immigration, the Washington Post reports. 

Trump was advised that it would be inappropriate to drop the criminal case against Arpaio, who was found in contempt of court for ignoring a federal judge’s order to stop ordering the detainment of people based solely on suspicions that they were undocumented immigrants.

So on Friday, the president issued his first pardon for Arpaio, one of the president’s allies in the “birther” movement.

“We knew the president wanted to do this for some time now and had worked to prepare for whenever the moment may come,” said one White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the action.