Former sheriff accuses news outlets of defamation
WASHINGTON – Attorneys for former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said on Thursday in federal court that he had “become a whipping boy to get to the president” as part of the defamation lawsuit he filed against news outlets.
In December, attorneys representing Arpaio filed a $300 million lawsuit against CNN, the Huffington Post and Rolling Stone, claiming the outlets had published false information about Arpaio.
Arpaio’s attorney Larry Klayman alleged “tremendous leftist hatred of Sheriff Arpaio and the president” as seen in the news outlets named in the lawsuit.
The outlets filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit. Lawyers representing the news outlets argued their articles had been quickly corrected and did not amount to defamation.
Stephen Fezesi, a lawyer from Williams and Connolly representing CNN, said that the articles were “substantially true” and did “not come close to proving actual malice,” and thus did not amount to defamation.
A ruling on the motions is not expected for several days.
After the hearing, Arpaio told the USA TODAY NETWORK, “it’s been an ordeal. I’ve been in law enforcement for 58 years around the world. Two parking tickets in my life – and I’m sitting at a defense table at a contempt of court,” referring to a July 2017 federal court case that found Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt of court as part of a federal racial-profiling probe into his conduct as sheriff. President Donald Trump pardoned Arpaio a month after the ruling, in August 2017.
“Now you have the media calling me a convicted felon, where I lose my right to carry a firearm, to vote,” Arpaio continued. “After all this time, I’m being called a convicted felon. I’m not happy. I have a family, we have some businesses, and I may be running for Senate. It’s a bigger picture.”
The news outlets had published articles or aired broadcasts with a single factual error about Arpaio. In January 2019, CNN’s Chris Cuomo had referred to Arpaio as a “convicted felon” in a January broadcast. A Rolling Stone piece from November 2018 referred to Arpaio as an “ex-felon.” Arpaio’s conviction for contempt of court was a misdemeanor, not a felony. A Huffington Post piece from November 2018 referred to Arpaio as being “sent to prison for contempt of court,” though Arpaio was never sent to prison.
All three outlets rectified the errors shortly afterward and issued corrections.
Arpaio’s lawyers argued in their lawsuit that he news outlets’ publication of stories harmed his chances of winning a U.S. Senate seat in 2020, as well as the chances of receiving funding from the “Republican establishment and donors.”