Hannity to interview Joe Arpaio after Trump pardon

Joe Arpaio will join Fox New’s Sean Hannity for an exclusive interview Friday night after President Trump pardoned the controversial former Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff.

Arpaio was convicted July 31 of criminal contempt by a judge in Arizona for disobeying a federal order on detaining individuals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

The White House on Friday released a statement stressing Arpaio’s years of public service, praising his work “protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration.”

“Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is a worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon,” it added.

“We’re very excited. this is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Jack Wilenchik, an attorney for Arpaio, told CNN. “We’re very proud to see the president has done the right thing.”

The White House announced the pardon Friday evening while the media was primarily covering Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm barreling toward the Gulf Coast that could bring up to 50 to 60 inches of rain in some isolated areas of Texas.