Obama Justice Department Lawyers Sue Arizona Sheriff In Civil Rights Probe

CNN.com:

Justice Department civil rights lawyers filed suit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona on Thursday after talks collapsed on a deal to provide federal investigators with documents they requested.


The suit, filed in federal court in Phoenix, Arizona, claims the Maricopa County sheriff has failed to cooperate with the investigation into alleged discrimination against Hispanics by Arpaio's law enforcement officials.


The Justice Department expressed dismay at the sheriff's office's "refusal to cooperate with the investigation."


"The actions of the sheriff's office are unprecedented," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, chief of the Civil Rights Division. "It is unfortunate that the (Justice) Department was forced to resort to litigation to gain access to public documents and facilities."


The federal action became virtually certain after the sheriff's office last Friday rejected the government's demands in an open letter posted on the county's website.


In the letter, Arpaio's attorney, Robert Driscoll, wrote that the Justice Department's "current position that it is entitled to any document it wants, to access any facility it wishes, and to interview any witness it wants, without limitation ... is simply unreasonable."


At a news conference Thursday Arpaio struck a defiant tone.


"It's rather disgusting saying we don't cooperate when we are," the sheriff insisted. "A year and a half they've been investigating me on alleged racial profiling on the streets. They can't get the proof so now they're suing me, just for documents."

Barry's radically leftwing administration is on the side of illegal immigrants instead of our brave police officers, still wondering why Barry gets more and more unpopular with each passing day?