Arpaio rips Christie: ‘Why doesn’t he study the laws?’

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio slammed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Wednesday after the governor said President Trump should not have pardoned the former law enforcement officer. 

“I think he was a U.S. Attorney, he should know the laws. You don’t have to say you’re guilty for a pardon, and I am not guilty, and the president understood that,” Arpaio told WABC Radio’s Rita Cosby on Wednesday.

He added, “Why doesn’t he study the laws?”

Arpaio was responding to comments made by Christie on MSNBC  earlier Wednesday. 

{mosads}“My understanding has always been that one of the prerequisites you look for in giving a pardon is contrition for what you were convicted of,” the governor said. “I didn’t see that in Sheriff Arpaio.”

Christie went on to say that he would not have pardoned the former sheriff, who has been accused of racial profiling.

“This is not one that I would have done,” he said, while he acknowledged that Trump has “the absolute right” to do so. 

Christie’s and Arpaio’s comments come after Trump garnered bipartisan criticism for pardoning the controversial sheriff on Friday. 

Arpaio was convicted in July of criminal contempt for disobeying a federal judge’s order on detaining individuals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.