THOMAS
In July 2009, Arpaio and the Board of Supervisors were not exactly on good terms - neither are the sheriff and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. And Thomas, who is consistently seen at press conferences standing beside Arpaio, is eyeing a run for state attorney general - which makes some of these comments hard to believe...
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MCSO Deputy Chief Frank Munnell is recording the meeting. He was getting caught up in a scandal within the office at the time and wanted to watch his back. After a few minutes of small talk, Arpaio gets into his beef with the Board of Supervisors, saying he doesn't want to hold fundraisers if the money goes into a general fund controlled by the board.
"I'm tired of doing things for the county," Arpaio says in the recording. "So why will we do this? To give the county a few more bucks. So they can hire more lawyers against us."
The sheriff says the Board of Supervisors is trying to micromanage his office and that they are at war with one another.
"So, um, we'll give them the fight, we'll have some fun. You having fun, David?" Arpaio asks of his right-hand man at the time, David Hendershott.
"I hate to admit it, but yes," Hendershott says in the recording. Then the conversation shifts to the then-county attorney and now disbarred lawyer, Thomas.
"He's not as aggressive as the nut case was, (Rick) Romley, and uh, he's kind of, you know, he worries a lot," Arpaio said. He and Hendershott weigh in on Thomas' bid for attorney general, saying he has to act more like a moderate if he wants to win enough votes.
"Politics is how people, they become whores, just to get (inaudible) run for something," he said. The sheriff then asks his number two if they have Thomas' support in another battle they're prepared to fight, this time with then-Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon. Hendershott says thankfully, no.More
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