This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Joe Arpaio, who for years was known as "America's toughest sheriff" for having the inmates in his Maricopa, Arizona, County jails do community betterment projects while behind bars, is suing Joe Biden for falsely characterizing him as a convicted "felon."

The case is being handled by Larry Klayman in the Circuit Court of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County, Florida.

The false characterization came in an ad that Biden's campaign for the White House created and released to the public.

"I will not stand by and allow my great friend and client, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, to be smeared and defamed by a dishonest president and his Democrat henchmen simply to harm Trump’s presidential election prospects," explained Klayman, who has founded watchdog organizations Judicial Watch and FreedomWatchUSA.

"By equating the two men as 'felons,' the desperate Joe Biden, who not only is alleged to have taken bribes, laundered through his drug addict and true 'convicted felon' Hunter Biden, but who is now seen as essentially braindead with severe cognitive issues, I will not stand idly by to allow this falsehood to be perpetrated on the American public. Joe Biden and his evil clowns at Biden for President, Inc., will be held to legally account and to pay for their defamation of a good and patriotic man, which has contributed to serious threats against him," Klayman said.

Arpaio's reputation during his two decades plus as the Maricopa sheriff was enhanced by his decision to have inmates wear pink underwear after he found they were stealing the clothing when it was white. He also set up what essentially were chain gangs to perform public service projects.

The case explains, "The motive for this publication, which was alleged to be published with actual malice, was to tar Sheriff Arpaio and thus Trump, who Arpaio strongly supports, and thus Trump’s election prospects in Florida, the third largest state and a key one in any presidential contest."

Arpaio was found liable for a misdemeanor, contempt of court, during a years-long case over the county's handling of illegal aliens who were criminals. He then was pardoned by President Trump.

The Barack Obama administration had claimed the department overstepped the bounds set by the courts in pursuit of criminals.

Arpaio had served in the Army, as a police officer in Washington and Las Vegas, and with the Drug Enforcement Administration. He essentially came out of retirement to help Maricopa County in its fight against crime.

But he had been at odds with Obama because of the administration's tolerance for illegal immigration, a move that has reached a point of near-perfection under Joe Biden's open borders agenda.

His novel approach to law enforcement won him many elections. For example, he established chain gangs for inmates to contribute thousands of dollars of free labor to communities, painting over graffiti and cleaning streets.

He banned smoking, coffee, movies, pornographic magazines, and unrestricted TV in jails. His costs per meal for inmates ran between 15 cents and 40 cents. He provided pink underwear for inmates to wear, after learning that inmates were stealing white jailhouse boxers.

Subsequent reports confirmed that Arpaio's successor, a Democrat, also was looking at a possible contempt charge over the same issue involving the enforcement of the law against illegal aliens.

The case began in 2007 with the arrest of Manuel de Jesus Ortega Melendres, a Mexican immigrant. He later sued the agency and Arpaio, alleging he was racially profiled.

The case, against Biden and Biden for President, seeks millions of dollars in damages.

The complaint charges that last month, the Biden campaign's "Official Rapid Response Page" on Twitter, @BidenHQ, posted a video with the caption "Trump trae al escenario a Joe Arpaio, un criminal convicto que fue perdonado por Trump después de que perfiló racialmente y abusó de inmigrantes."

The complaint notes, "This is translated into the following: Trump brings to the stage Joe Arpaio, a convicted felon who was pardoned by Trump after he racially profiled and abused immigrants."

"In this post, the defamatory caption was accompanied by a video of Donald Trump at a campaign event where he introduced plaintiff Arpaio to the crowd. This defamatory post was posted on the Campaign’s Twitter page, at the direction of the defendants. As of the time of writing, this defamatory post was viewed nearly 26,000 times, including by an individual located in Hillsborough County, Florida. Thus, the intent behind this post was to (1) try to affect the 2024 presidential election, and specifically to try to win Florida, by falsely associating Trump with a 'convicted felon' and (2) to harm plaintiff Arpaio’s reputation."

It points out that the post was "directed at Florida voters as a form of election interference, and in particular at voters in Hillsborough County, which is one of the most important counties in deciding whether Florida’s electoral votes will go to Biden or Trump in the 2024 Presidential election."

But the post is "false, malicious, and defamatory because (1) Plaintiff Arpaio has never been convicted of a felony and (2) Plaintiff Arpaio has never been found to have 'abused immigrants.'"

The counts include defamation, defamation per se, and defamation by implication.

A receptionist at the White House switchboard, 202-456-1414, contacted by WND for a comment from a media officer, first grilled the reporter on what WND meant, and where it was located. Then she instructed that she had no one available to comment.