FORMER SHERIFF WANTS FULL INVESTIGATION OF PAUL BABEU

Babeu’s Attorneys Have Some Explaining to DO

Roger Vanderpool, a retired Department of Public Safety officer and former Pinal County Sheriff is asking for a full-blown investigation of the current embattled sheriff. Mr. Vanderpool suggests that a full investigation is necessary due to the fact that the scandal surrounding Paul Babeu is ongoing and distracting.

As a lawyer, I feel for Sheriff Babeu’s attorneys. Clearly, there are additional details that will surface surrounding this incident. And it is quite likely that some of those circumstances will not be favorable to the Sheriff. So what should his attorney do? It’s hard to give advice in such a tough situation.

The big question of the day is whether or not the sheriff threatened to deport his lover if he went public with their relationship. Clearly, such a threat is scandalous and detrimental to any political career. But there seems to be an obvious 800-pound gorilla in the room.

I’m not convinced that the Republican party can elect an openly gay man to congress in Arizona. I’m also not convinced that the Republican party could elect a candidate to congress if that person was involved in a long-term relationship with an undocumented Mexican national.

Things are so polarized right now, that the nomination process might make it impossible for any moderate to emerge on the R side. And the irony of ironies, who do you think did more to contribute to that polarization? Three people come to mind instantly: Russel Pearce, Joe Arpaio, and Paul Babeu.

People seem to forget, but it was Paul Babeu who in 2011 thought a violent conflict was imminent with illegal aliens. As he said this, border violence was actually sharply decreasing. The whole thing is just very sad. I don’t understand how Babeu could have thought he could get away with this. Even if he has the best attorney in the world, I don’t think he’s going to be in Washington D.C. next year.

Phoenix Attorney Nick Alcock