Most days, Maricopa County’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio acts like a caricature of a Western law man: the cowboy, “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” the man who brought back chain gangs, parades prisoners around in pink underwear, and clearly believes he’s above the rule of law.

“After they went after me,” Arpaio gloated in a 2009 speech to a Texans for Immigration Reform meeting, referring to the beginning of federal inquiries into his enforcement practices, “we arrested 500 more [people] just for spite.”