Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio sued The New York Times on Tuesday saying the paper defamed him in a venomous August column celebrating his latest election loss, accusing him of extensive illegal behavior and calling him “a sadist masquerading as a public servant.”
And in the lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., the former Maricopa County lawman also hinted he may make another run for office in 2020, eyeing the Senate seat that will be up for election following the death of Sen. John McCain.
Mr. Arpaio said a piece written by Times editorial board member Michelle Cottle in August may have dented those chances by recounting his long and controversial career as a sheriff, including his use of tent jails, making inmates wear pink underwear, and allowing a high number of inmate suicides.
Ms. Cottle also accused the former sheriff of failing to solve many of those deaths and ignoring crimes such as child rape.
Mr. Arpaio said those sorts of comments will prevent him from raising money ahead of the election in two years.
“Plaintiff Arpaio’s chances and prospects of election to the U.S. Senate in 2020 have been severely harmed by the publication of false and fraudulent facts in the defamatory article,” Mr. Arpaio said in the lawsuit, filed by Larry Klayman, a conservative lawyer who’s had a rough go of it in the federal courts of late.
He names both the paper and Ms. Cottle as defendants.
A spokeswoman for the paper said they had yet to be served with the lawsuit, but will vigorously defend themselves.
Mr. Arpaio had sought the GOP nomination for Senate in Arizona this year, but came in a distant third in a three-way race.
It was his second defeat in a row, after losing his bid in 2016 for a seventh term as sheriff in Maricopa County.
His loss in the sheriff’s race came weeks after the Obama administration Justice Department launched a contempt of court case against him, citing a judge’s ruling that the then-sheriff had lied about complying with an order to cease racial profiling. Mr. Arpaio accused the Obama administration of meddling in the election with the case.
But in July 2017 a judge sided with the government — by then under President Trump — and found Mr. Arpaio guilty of contempt.
Even before he had a chance to appeal, Mr. Trump stepped in with a presidential pardon for Mr. Arpaio, who had been an early campaign supporter.
While a district court upheld the pardon, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing whether Mr. Arpaio can have the charges themselves stricken from his record.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.