DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement in response to today’s Fresno County Republican Party fundraiser with former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was recently pardoned by President Trump from conviction of criminal contempt for racially profiling Latinos in violation of a court order:

“It is an abomination that the Fresno County Republican Party has decided to go through with a fundraising event featuring Joe Arpaio, one of our nation’s most notorious agents of racism and bigotry. Arpaio spent his career tearing apart immigrant families and devastating Latino communities. That’s why Arizona voters kicked him out of office in November, and that’s why I sued him when I led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Now Fresno Republicans are celebrating Arpaio’s hateful practices by hosting him for a fundraiser. President Trump and the Republican Party may not believe justice is blind, but the American people still do and they want to see Arpaio held accountable, not pardoned for his prejudice. Fresno Republicans should reject any and all amounts raised from parading Joe Arpaio around at a fundraiser.”