Rick Romley: Unleash the documents!

Maricopa County prosecutor Rick Romley released a ton of documents about the crazy investigations Joe Arpaio’s office and Romley’s predecessor, Andrew Thomas, waged against their political enemies.

The pair kept pursuing the investigation, even though each venue they took it to—independent prosecutor, grand jury, and then prosecutor in another county—all rejected the pair’s claims.

The Republic lays out just how pathetic the case was, and how to this day Thomas fudges the truth:

After weeks of meeting, the [grand] jury decided to end the inquiry.

Both Thomas' prosecutor and officials in Romley’s office described an “end the inquiry” as rare.

On Thursday, Thomas said … [h]is office asked the grand jury to end the investigation.

Had the grand jury wanted to exonerate those under investigation, Thomas said, it could have issued a “no bill,” which means there was not enough evidence to indict.

However, one of Thomas' own prosecutors had explained to the jury during orientation that to “end the inquiry” meant “the case is so bad, there’s no further evidence that could be brought to you folks,” according to the transcripts.

“Frankly, I have been doing this a long time, and I have had three in my whole career,” deputy county attorney William Moore had said.

Robert Robb piles on here.

The paper’s editorial page is scathing:

It reflects most harshly on Thomas, who now is running for the Republican nomination for attorney general.

Thomas told The Republic’s Craig Harris on Thursday that Romley “has falsely claimed the grand jury found no evidence of wrongdoing” and that the release “vindicates” his office and proves his claims of county corruption.

Against the stark contrast of the grand jurors' own words, Thomas' arguments seem strikingly self-serving.

Citizens who supposedly could be persuaded by Thomas' prosecutors to indict a ham sandwich instead have eaten his lunch.

Despite it all, Sheriff Arpaio clings tenaciously to these now-thoroughly discredited charges. It is time he paid attention to the people and ended this contemptible inquiry once and for all.