By KTAR.com
Former Maricopa County Sheriff and congressional candidate Joe Arpaio is asking the U.S. Justice Department to look into his claim that the agency meddled in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for sheriff.
Arpaio claimed the Justice Department tried to sway voters against him by pushing a criminal contempt of court case against Arpaio just weeks before the election.
In asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions for the investigation, Arpaio’s lawyer Mark Goldman made parallels between the Justice Department’s actions in Arpaio’s case and its conduct in the investigation into whether Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential race and whether then-candidate Donald Trump’s campaign was involved.
Goldman cited an anti-Trump text message made by an FBI agent who was once part of the team conducting the Russia investigation.
