Arapaio is one of the reasons Trump will lose AZ as well."The whole case gets undone," he said, with the conviction nullified.
But Bolton said that's not the way things work. She said the right of the president to pardon the former sheriff is different — and separate from — what actually occurred in court.
More to the point, she said what Arpaio wants ignores the legal nature of a pardon.
First, she said, it must be accepted. At that point, Bolton wrote, the defendant is no longer subject to punishment and all of his or her civil rights are restored.
"It does not erase a judgment of conviction, or its underlying legal and factual findings," Bolton said. In fact, the judge said there is case law showing that a pardon carries an imputation of guilt — and that acceptance is "a confession of it."
I love how the electoral map is shaping up.