Arpaio trial: testimony to resume Tuesday

The contempt of court hearing of Joe Arpaio in Melendres v. Arpaio resumes Tuesday. This comes in the wake of testimony by Sgt. Travis Anglin revealing text messages from Mike Zullo demonstrating how interested Arpaio was in the the Seattle Operation, reportedly asking about it daily. Anglin advised Arpaio to distance himself from Mike Zullo and Dennis Montgomery, to no avail.

Mike Zullo is turning out to be a pivotal figure in the investigation of the relationship between Arpaio and Montgomery. Will someone throw someone else under the bus? Stay tuned.

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38 Responses to Arpaio trial: testimony to resume Tuesday

  1. gorefan says:

    Best line in Lemon’s article

    “He [Arpaio] asked who the fuck I thought I was,” Anglin said. “He went on to tell me Zullo was a smart man who had `solved’ the [Obama] birth certificate case.”

    I hope that comes up in the Zullo deposition and testimony.

  2. Jon Beck says:

    The wheels on the bus go round and round . . . .

  3. Keith says:

    And the painted ponies go up and down. . .

  4. alg says:

    It is nothing short of remarkable that a racial profiling case should end up being intricately tied a County sheriff’s interest in the President’s birth certificate. That Mike Zullo is a central figure in the so-called “Seattle Operation” speaks volumes about how utterly nutty Sheriff Joe truly is. Remember that this is one of the largest local law enforcement agencies in the country and at its helm is an absolute idiot that people keep re-electing.

    This doesn’t speak well for the state of the nation.

  5. Curious George says:

    alg,

    “It is nothing short of remarkable that a racial profiling case should end up being intricately tied a County sheriff’s interest in the President’s birth certificate. That Mike Zullo is a central figure in the so-called “Seattle Operation” speaks volumes about how utterly nutty Sheriff Joe truly is.”

    What it really says is just how gullible Arpaio is to put so much faith and trust in a very good used car salesman who has no problem closing the deal, any way that he can. Arpaio is the real idiot in this equation. Zullo was smart enough to realize that he wasn’t quite as intellectually challenged as Arpaio. Great job Mikey!

  6. aarrgghh says:

    Curious George: Zullo was smart enough to realize that he wasn’t quite as intellectually challenged as Arpaio.

    i’m reminded of the joke about the two hikers being chased by a bear: “i don’t have to be faster than the bear, one tells the other. i just have to be faster than you …”

  7. Lupin says:

    I have to agree: Arpaio comes off as an imbecile, or possibly senile.

  8. Krosis says:

    So, did Arpaio really believe Zullo about the birth certificate, or only pretended to? So strange…

  9. Curious George says:

    Krosis
    October 12, 2015

    “So, did Arpaio really believe Zullo about the birth certificate, or only pretended to? So strange…”

    Arpaio believed in the $8+ million in donations the birth certificate helped to generate back in ’12 for his political campaign. What’s not to believe?

  10. Rickey says:

    This sentence in Lemons’ piece intrigues me:

    Anglin’s testimony Friday demonstrated that Arpaio and Sheridan went to great lengths (and depths) to craft a cover story for the Seattle probe, even operating parallel investigations, to hide the tracks of the inquiry into a conspiracy involving Snow.

    Was the birth certificate the parallel investigation? Was Arpaio using the birth certificate issue to cover up the fact that he was investigating Judge Snow?

  11. Pete says:

    Curious George: Arpaio believed in the $8+ million in donations the birth certificate helped to generate back in ’12 for his political campaign. What’s not to believe?

    You bet. That’s what’s called “solving the birth certificate case.”

  12. CarlOrcas says:

    alg: Remember that this is one of the largest local law enforcement agencies in the country and at its helm is an absolute idiot that people keep re-electing.

    Right on all counts except the size of his department. He would like you to believe its one of the biggest in the country. To get there he adds together sworn employees, jail staff and the posses and usually comes up with something in the range of 6,000. Nice try, Joe.

    Truth is he has about 750 sworn deputies with a couple thousand corrections officers. The posse program has shrunk from a claimed 3,000 members to just under 1,000 according to the court monitor.

    So….the MCSO doesn’t even come in among the top 50 state and local law enforcement agencies ranked by the number of full time sworn officers. If you can get to this link from a 2008 BJS report check out Appendix Table 5 on page 14:

    http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/csllea08.pdf

    As usual with Joe it’s always good to check what he says.

  13. CarlOrcas says:

    Lupin:
    I have to agree: Arpaio comes off as an imbecile, or possibly senile.

    I have friends who are retired from the Phoenix PD who tell me stories about meeting Arpaio right after he was elected in the early 90’s. They were meetings to discuss how the two departments could work better together.

    Consensus among the PPD command folks was that Arpaio was crazier than a loon and wouldn’t last long as sheriff.

    As one friend said as he laughed and shook his head, “At least we were half right.”

  14. CarlOrcas says:

    Krosis:
    So, did Arpaio really believe Zullo about the birth certificate, or only pretended to? So strange…

    Consider for a moment Arpaio’s monumental ego and how appealing it would be for him to take down a sitting President. Pretty much irresistible, don’t you think?

  15. Rickey says:

    Krosis:
    So, did Arpaio really believe Zullo about the birth certificate, or only pretended to? So strange…

    He believed in what Montgomery was feeding him,

  16. I had assumed that the bank hacking story was the cover.

    Rickey:

    Was the birth certificate the parallel investigation? Was Arpaio using the birth certificate issue to cover up the fact that he was investigating Judge Snow?

  17. Rickey says:

    Dr. Conspiracy:
    I had assumed that the bank hacking story was the cover.

    That makes sense. It will be fascinating if we get to hear what Zullo has to say under oath.

    I’m assuming that there is no evidence that any of the 150,000 or so bank accounts were ever hacked.

  18. gorefan says:

    Tes at the Fogbow linked this recent docket entry.

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/284684466/Melendres-1462-Combined-Proposed-Statement-of-Issues-w-Exhibit

    Some interesting stuff include this exhibit,

    2823 Freedom Friday YouTube page print – “Mike Zullo Does LIVE Q&A on Freedom Friday with Carl Gallups” dated June 14, 2015

    The reference is to this interview,

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1JjIMlLO6s

    Zullo makes several references to Montgomery.

  19. wrecking ball says:

    gorefan: http://www.scribd.com/doc/284684466/Melendres-1462-Combined-Proposed-Statement-of-Issues-w-Exhibit

    also of interest:

    2090 Email chain between Dennis Montgomery to Mike Zullo with a subject line “Judge Snow” dated 2/2/2015 (MELC202222-24)

  20. RanTalbott says:

    Rickey: It will be fascinating if we get to hear what Zullo has to say under oath.

    From the link provided by gorefan (Thanks!):

    The direct examinations of Sgt. Anglin, Mr. Zullo, and Det. Mackiewicz will encompass the so-called “Seattle investigation,” including the extent to which Sheriff Arpaio, Chief Deputy Sheridan, or any other MCSO employee instigated, allowed or encouraged an investigation, through the actions of Posseman Mike Zullo and MCSO confidential informant Dennis Montgomery, into Judge Snow in order to resist Judge Snow’s orders and/or this contempt proceeding.
    At this time, Plaintiffs estimate using 90 minutes for the direct examination of Sgt. Anglin, 2 hours for the direct examination of Det. Mackiewicz, and 2-2.5 hours for the direct examination of Mr. Zullo, with additional time as needed for redirect.

    Looks like they think the “Seattle Operation” team have a lot o’ ‘splainin to do 😉

    Ooo, and Team Arpaio want to grill Zullo for another 2 hours as a defense witness. Hope someone brings a basting brush…

  21. gorefan says:

    RanTalbott: Team Arpaio want to grill Zullo for another 2 hours as a defense witness.

    The defense wants to question him about the Seattle Operation. Will he back up Arpaio and Sheridan who said Montgomery’s stuff was junk or will he still insist that Montgomery provided them with a lot of information and that junk doesn’t mean the same thing to law enforcement?

  22. Dave B. says:

    Advancing senescence sometimes brings a diminution of inhibition, and a loss of the “filters” that keep us from saying things that, whether true or not, might not be absolutely necessary or even the least bit desirable under the given circumstances. I can only imagine what tenterhooks Arpaio’s counsel– and associates– must be on while he’s under oath.

    Lupin:
    I have to agree: Arpaio comes off as an imbecile, or possibly senile.

  23. Pete says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG: I’m gonna be out of popping corn pretty fast, at this rate…

    Unfortunately you’ll have time to stock up. The court’s going to be in recess for a couple of weeks.

  24. Andrew Vrba, PmG says:

    So, what are the odds of Shurfjoke breaking down into a full blown Jimmy Swaggart moment, before all this is said and done?
    And how realistic is it to hope that his chances of getting re-elected yet again, are nil at this point?

  25. Pete says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG:
    So, what are the odds of Shurfjoke breaking down into a full blown Jimmy Swaggart moment, before all this is said and done?

    None.

  26. James M says:

    Andrew Vrba, PmG:
    And how realistic is it to hope that his chances of getting re-elected yet again, are nil at this point?

    I’ve learned not to overestimate voters in Greater Phoenix.

  27. gorefan says:

    Tes at Fogbow has posted excerpts from court transcripts. This caught my eye from the September 29th testimony of deputy Chief Sheridan

    Q. Did the Cold Case Posse use some of its funds?

    A. Yes, sir.

    Q. And do you administer Cold Case Posse funds?

    A. No, sir.

    Q. Do you know how many — how much funding came from the Cold Case Posse?

    A. I do not.

    http://tesibria.typepad.com/wye/the-mcso-seattle-operation-testimony-chief-deputy-gerald-sheridan-sept-29-2015.html

    Maybe we’ll get some idea how much the CCP was getting in donations.

  28. FWIIW Gallups was asked why Zullo hasn’t been mentioned on his show lately. Gallups gives the usual evasive answer trying to keep hope alive.

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/36617172/GallupsFF10-16-2015.mp3

    “Universe Shattering” is no longer the operative phrase.

  29. gorefan says:

    Reality Check: “Universe Shattering” is no longer the operative phrase.

    As I understand the Monty Python evidence it can be broken down into three categories:

    1) CIA bank accounts
    2) DOJ/Snow collusion
    3) President Obama birth certificate

    We know quite a bit about the first two but almost nothing about the third. I don’t think based on the kind of stuff Monty produced for 1 and 2 that he was looking at layers on the PDF or the Xerox machine. IMO, he was probably producing some kind of e-mail trail between the White House and the Hawaii DOH and the Social Security Administration and the Selective Service Administration and the US Postal Service.

    It was shortly after Zullo’s universe shattering announcement in November, 2013 that Gillar made the ‘we know who, we know why’ video and the ‘everyone from the above listed agencies was going to jail’ video. And it was also when Gillar went on Volins’ show to say that the MCSO’s morale was at the highest point it had ever been and everyone was very excited.

    So my pure speculation is that Monty produced a new birth narrative. The new narrative had all the different agencies colluding to create a Manchurian candidate.

  30. RanTalbott says:

    gorefan: IMO, he was probably producing some kind of e-mail trail between the White House and the Hawaii DOH and the Social Security Administration and the Selective Service Administration and the US Postal Service

    It’s possible, since Monty claimed to have email fragments from around then. But I think there’s a more likely explanation.

    1. In late 2013, we have Gallups going multi-orgasmic over “The NSA Document”.
    2. In early September of 2014, Zullo is bragging about examining the PDF with “technology most people don’t even know exists”.
    3. In the released emails, we have Monty whining about some sort of difficulty finding Adobe’s fingerprints in the metadata.
    4. There’s a reference somewhere (I’ve forgotten the source) to Zullo going to the National Archives to get other BCs for comparison.

    I think Monty faked the NSA document, and told the suckers that, even though the Xerox had obliterated most of the evidence, he had invented a way to dig through the file and find something incriminating in it. Maybe some unerased metadata, maybe some proof of pieces of the document being lifted from some other BC.

    In short, he offered them a way around the Xerox evidence, and some new techno-magic that was beyond the ken of the Obots, and thus irrefutable.

    That would account for the leap in morale, and for some of the comments in the email exchanges.

  31. Pete says:

    The amazing thing about, well, everything, is the amount of time, effort and energy (and money, too, such as the $120,000 paid to Montgomery) that human beings are willing to put in on absolute bullshirt.

    I mean honestly, I wonder whether I could just tell people, hey, I’ve laid the complete theoretical basis for building a time machine, all I need is $450,000 for the advanced materials and electronics to build it and then I can make us all filthy rich because I’ll go forward in time and bring back the winning numbers for the $285 million Powerball, and this is 1000% going to work. I wonder if I could raise the $450,000.

    On the other side of it is the amount of time, effort and energy some of us (and certainly Dr C comes to mind here) have put in on refuting absolute bullshirt.

  32. gorefan says:

    RanTalbott: That would account for the leap in morale, and for some of the comments in the email exchanges.

    I understand what you are saying and agree with you. I just think there is more. Proving the BC was a forgery when you been saying you proved it was a forgery for 3 years just doesn’t seem to justify Gillar’s video or statement. Hopefully we’ll find out in Zullo’s testimony.

  33. Given my salary at the time I required, and the number of hours I estimate that I have put into the blog over 7 years, I think we’re getting pretty close to $450,000 in labor expended.

    Pete: I wonder if I could raise the $450,000.

    On the other side of it is the amount of time, effort and energy some of us (and certainly Dr C comes to mind here) have put in on refuting absolute bullshirt.

  34. RanTalbott says:

    gorefan: Proving the BC was a forgery when you been saying you proved it was a forgery for 3 years just doesn’t seem to justify Gillar’s video or statement.

    Despite their posturing, I think they knew that RC was right when he described the Xerox evidence as “the final nail”. Literally everything except the SS registration fairy tale had been proven false. Remember Sellin (??) claiming that they were about to fold their circus tent when Monty appeared? He was a real deus ex machina. Or would be, as soon as they popped the 50 Gs to build a machina in his garage. 😉

    As for Gillar, he doesn’t need anything real to justify his statements or videos. He’s no Red Queen, but his record shows he can manage to believe six impossible things before lunch. It would not be at all surprising to find out that he based the “we know who did it” part of the video on the BR headline that misquoted Gallups and claimed “Zullo knows who the forger is”.

  35. bob says:

    Zullo partially complied with the subpoena, but for parts ZULLO INVOKED HIS FIFTH AMENDMENT PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION.

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