The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted to give its lawyers permission Monday to sue the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office over the purchase of a $456,000 inmate transport bus purchased with money from the Jail Enhancement Fund.

The bus was originally purchased in October 2008; the supervisors have since refused to title it because they had questions about the purchase.

In other news, Judge Gary Donahoe has stepped aside from his position as presiding judge over the criminal courts system three months early, possibly to make way for a lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas alleging malicious prosecution.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that the ongoing grand jury investigation into allegations that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is abusing his power is serious and "will produce results."

In a news conference Tuesday, Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley called Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas "evil," radio station KTAR reported.

Thomas' office had no comment on the remark.

Opponents of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio marched on Washington, D.C., midday Monday to raise awareness for what they called "a human rights crisis in Arizona."

The delegation originally tried to meet with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, but he declined the invitation so the protesters decided to hold a news conference and demonstration.

Salvador Reza, an adamant opponent of Arpaio, and the Arizona Puente Human Rights Caravan also participated in the Pro-Immigration Reform and Human Rights March on Sunday.

An attorney for Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley filed a notice of claim Friday against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas, among others, alleging defamation, false arrest and malicious prosecution:

In the filing, Stapley accuses the sheriff of telling deputies to get surveillance video of his September 2009 arrest that would be used to "further humiliate and intimidate Stapley."

Additionally, the filing alleges that after his arrest, Stapley was "put into a filthy and rancid cell with feces on the floor."

A notice of claim is a precursor to a lawsuit against the government.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says it has made 55 arrests so far in its 14th crime sweep since 2008. Of those arrested, 31 are suspected illegal immigrants.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said his crime-suppression sweeps are paid for by state funds and donations; however, he refused to elaborate on how much each sweep costs.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office will be conducting its 14th crime-suppression sweep in the Valley beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday. It will apparently involve 400 sworn deputies and posse members, and will last for two days.

The news release did not say where operations will be conducted; however, Sheriff Joe Arpaio will kick it off at the Sheriff's Training Center in Phoenix.

The Associated Press is reporting that Sheriff Joe Arpaio plans to launch his 14th (since 2008) crime-suppression and immigration sweep at some point this week. He has not said when or where it will occur.

As you might remember, when the federal government stripped Arpaio of his 287(g) authority to arrest illegal immigrants, Arpaio announced he would continue to perform immigration enforcement under state law. In February, he said he would train all his deputies to enforce immigration law.

Local radio station KTAR is reporting that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio may be considering a gubernatorial run:

(Arpaio) won't say what he'd do about the state budget if elected.

"First of all I won't answer that and give away my secrets to all the other opponents," he said. "I will answer that if I decide to run. People have to understand where I'm coming from."

He's confident that he'd win the election and can do the job of governor. "I'll take my resume and put it against anybody in this state where I've been in private business. I've been in the Army...I met with ambassadors. I can go on and on."

A November 2008 study by Rasmussen Reports showed Arpaio with a clear advantage over other likely candidates.

In other news, a Department of Justice official sent a strongly worded letter to Arpaio's attorney in a civil rights case over the weekend, saying that the DOJ said it would examine a written summary of the racketeering allegations, not dig through the entire case files.

Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced Thursday they were dropping the racketeering suit against the Board of Supervisors because the DOJ was taking over the investigation.

The letter also said that it would share all the material Arpaio sent with the investigators at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Arpaio is currently the subject of a federal grand jury investigation into allegations of abuse of power.

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio have filed a motion to dismiss the federal racketeering lawsuit they filed against the Board of Supervisors in December.

In the motion, Thomas says the Justice Department has agreed to investigate the Board of Supervisors for misconduct.

On Friday, a Maricopa County sheriff's deputy showed up at the county's information technology office to demand backup copies of e-mail messages relating to the Melendres matter that the county discovered:

A federal judge sanctioned Arpaio for destroying e-mail and other evidence relating to crime-suppression sweeps. The lawsuit has also brought Arpaio and one of his chief deputies to depositions.

Many assumed the e-mail messages were gone forever until county officials discovered they had a backup copy...

Friday afternoon, a sheriff’s commander, Bob Rampy, showed up at the county’s information technology facility to take possession of the e-mail, saying the messages were MCSO property and contained sensitive information that could jeopardize ongoing criminal cases...

David Bodney, an attorney handling the racial profiling lawsuit, said Arpaio "shouldn't be turning this document destruction issue into a grudge match between the Sheriff's Office and Maricopa County."

Sources have told both The Arizona Republic and KPHO that Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and his office are now under investigation for abuse of power.

5 Investigates has spoken with sources who say FBI agents have been questioning county employees about Thomas' office.

A federal grand jury has already been impaneled to look into abuse-of-power allegations involving Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.


In slightly related news, the court cases involving Maricopa County supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox were handed to Yavapai County Attorney Daisy Flores on Thursday. A Pima County judge recently ruled that Thomas was abusing his power by continuing the cases against the supervisors.

On Monday, Morgan Loew reported that the Attorney General's Office is investigating several bank accounts maintained by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that are kept separate from other county funds:

One of the accounts is the RICO fund that contains money from property confiscated from criminal activity.

The other is the Jail Enhancement Fund, which is supposed to be used to increase the value, quality, desirability or attractiveness of county jail services or operations.

According to JEF Guidelines and state law, the money is supposed to be deposited with the county treasurer. But that's not happening in Maricopa County.

In a news release posted on Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Truth Behind the Headlines page, the Sheriff's Office argued that it can do whatever it wants with these funds, such as purchase a nearly $500,000 inmate transport bus. Nevertheless, the office did not address the fact that its use of the funds was under investigation.

The Sheriff's Office did, however, attack KPHO:

Like so many other overdramatic “investigative” stories generated by Channel Five on the Sheriff’s Office, this particular story was reinvented from information covered by the Arizona Republic several months ago that has already been responded to by the Sheriff’s Office...

Channel Five’s tactic is usually to find a new person to interview like Byron Schlomach form the Goldwater Institute and lead their audience to believe that they have a new exclusive story...

The documents “obtained” by Channel Five on last night’s story were supplied by the Sheriff’s Office through public records requests. How channel five can suggest that the Sheriff’s Office is failing to be transparent is beyond us.

The truth is, these funds are audited every year and the Sheriff’s Office has never been found to be in violation of any state laws. Channel five never supported their accusation about violating state laws with any proof or evidence. Another Channel Five tactic; put an idea into the public’s head by making an accusation that they have no evidence to support.

In other news, the Sheriff's Office published an e-mail sent from ABC 15's news director to one of its investigative reporters:

The letter shows that Channel 15’s news director now wants his investigative reporter, Bernstein, to “come after” the Sheriff. The letter did not admonish Bernstein to be fair and impartial in his coverage of Arpaio but rather to “COME AFTER” him.

Given the email correspondence printed below, Sheriff Arpaio and the Office as a whole fully expect that Channel 15 will soon line up behind KPHO 5 and KPNX 12 as well as the Arizona Republic in a collective effort to denigrate Arpaio and the Office at every given opportunity.

What the Sheriff's Office does not include in the publication of the letter were the e-mail headers that state when the e-mail was sent. In fact, it was sent shortly after the news broke that a grand jury had been convened to look into allegations of abuse of power by Arpaio and his office.

The Phoenix New Times wrote its own commentary on the letter. This was shortly after the paper released an issue with a cover story on the court tower investigation.