Former Attorney General Eric Holder Eric Himpton HolderThe Hill's Campaign Report: Trump's rally risk | Biden ramps up legal team | Biden hits Trump over climate policy Biden campaign forming 'special litigation' team ahead of possible voting battle Pompeo, Engel poised for battle in contempt proceedings MORE on Wednesday blasted President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE's decision to pardon controversial former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, calling the decision a "misuse" of presidential power.

ADVERTISEMENT Holder's Justice Department sued Arpaio for racial profiling, and Arpaio was later found guilty of ignoring a court order in a related case. But Trump decided to pardon Arpaio, a former Trump campaign surrogate, last August.

"The president's power to pardon is absolute and I can’t criticize the process. That was ultimately the president's decision," Holder told reporters Wednesday during a breakfast in Washington sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor.

"But I think it's instructive that power that is used relatively sparingly was used by this president to grant some relief to a person that I think is fundamentally undeserving of it."

Holder went on to call the court's decision against Arpaio "appropriate" and add that "it was a misuse of the process" for Trump to pardon Arpaio.

Arpaio earned a reputation as an immigration hard-liner during his more than 20 years as the Maricopa County sheriff, who has jurisdiction over the Phoenix area, as well as criticism for his treatment of prisoners and for allegations of racial profiling.