10 things you need to know today: August 26, 2017

Trump pardons controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio, Gorka ousted from White House post, and more

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (L) of Maricopa County, Arizona listens as then-candidate Donald Trump
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

1. Trump pardons controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio

President Trump in Phoenix Tuesday all but promised clemency to Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff who was convicted in July of criminal contempt for defying an order to stop imprisoning suspected illegal immigrants. "I'll make a prediction," Trump said during his rally. "I think [Arpaio]'s going to be just fine, okay?" The president followed through on that promise Friday night with an official pardon, tweeting, "I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!" Arpaio has long been an outspoken critic of undocumented immigrants and campaigned with Trump in 2016.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.