Trump pardons Sheriff Joe Arpaio before sentencing for criminal contempt

President Trump pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on August 25, 2017, before Arpaio had even been sentenced for criminal contempt of court. Arpaio had been convicted of deliberately violating a federal judge's order to stop detaining people based solely on suspected immigration status. The pardon bypassed the standard DOJ pardon attorney review process, which Trump had publicly telegraphed at a rally days earlier. Legal scholars noted it was an early use of the pardon power to shield an ally from accountability for civil-rights violations.