Attorneys for former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio want U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to testify as a witness in his criminal-contempt trial, according to USA Today.
Arpaio is facing criminal contempt charges that claim he refused to abide by a judicial order to stop immigration enforcement operations. That judge found that the operations involved racial profiling of Hispanic people.
The former sheriff's lead defense attorney dropped out of the case last week, with three weeks remaining until the trial. Arpaio's new attorneys got a federal judge to delay the trial for up to two months.
The USA Today report said it was not clear how Sessions could help Arpaio's case, but critics say that Arpaio could be tapping into his goodwill with President Donald Trump.
During the presidential campaign, Arpaio supported then-candidate Trump and pushed the "birther" claims that former President Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen. He was defeated for re-election after being sheriff of Maricopa County for 24 years.
Trump, Sessions, and Arpaio have similar beliefs about immigration, and believe that local police should aid federal authorities in cracking down on illegals, USA Today reported.
Paul Charlton, a former U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona, cast doubt on whether Sessions would appear for the trial.
"There is almost no circumstance I can envision in which he would be allowed to come forward and testify," Charlton said.
"Even if Jeff Sessions were to say he salutes and applauds Joe Arpaio's attempts at curbing illegal immigration, that has nothing to do with the bench trial. The judge is not going to put up with any nonsense," he added.
Critics say the new sheriff, Paul Penzone, continues Arpaio's policies. "So long as the same deportation machine is in power, Penzone hasn't shifted anything," said Carlos Garcia, immigrant organization Puente's executive director, according to The Arizona Republic.
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