A New Mexico politician sympathetic to Donald Trump had his Supreme Court challenge to a decision barring him from holding office rejected over an amendment aimed at barring Confederates from holding office after the war civil.
Former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor who rose to national political prominence by embracing then-President Donald Trump, has been removed from office for his participation in the insurrection on January 6, 2021 at the United States Capitol.
Griffin is so far the only elected official to have been banned from office in connection with the attack on the Capitol, which disrupted Congress as it attempted to certify Joe Biden’s election victory over Trump in 2020.
During a 2022 trial in state district court, Griffin received the first disqualification from office in more than a century under a provision of the 14th Amendment.
Although the Supreme Court ruled this month that states do not have the ability to exclude Trump or other candidates for federal office from the ballot, the justices said different rules apply to state candidates and premises.
Former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin has been removed from office for his participation in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States Capitol.
Griffin is a cowboy pastor who rose to national political prominence by kissing then-President Donald Trump.
“We conclude that states may disqualify individuals holding or attempting to hold public office,” the justices wrote in an unsigned opinion.
The outcome of Griffin’s case could strengthen efforts to hold other state and local elected officials accountable for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack.
Griffin, a Republican, was convicted in federal court of entering a restricted area on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to 14 days in jail.
The sentence was offset by time served after his arrest in Washington, where he returned to protest Biden’s inauguration in 2021. That conviction is under appeal.
Griffin claims he entered the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 without recognizing it had been designated a restricted area and attempted to lead a crowd in prayer using a bullhorn , without engaging in violence.
The recent ruling in the Trump case ended efforts in dozens of states to end Trump’s Republican bid for president over allegations that he helped spark the insurrection in an attempt to to prevent Biden, a Democrat, from replacing him in the White House in 2020.
The insurrection charges against Griffin were filed on behalf of three New Mexico residents by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-wing group that also filed a lawsuit in Colorado to disqualify Trump.
Congress was meeting at the Capitol to count the Electoral College votes when many Trump supporters rioted, broke into the building, injured police officers, called for Vice President Mike Pence to be hanged, and blocked the debates for hours.
Former President Donald Trump recently came under fire for calling the January 6 rioters “hostages.”
CREW has made the case for an investigation into several current state legislators who visited Washington on January 6.
At Griffin’s trial in state district court in 2022, Judge Francis Mathew of New Mexico recognized the Jan. 6 attack as an insurrection and ruled that Griffin aided that insurrection, without committing himself. in violence, thus contributing to delaying the certification procedure of the congressional elections.
Griffin’s appeal of disqualification asserted that only Congress, not a state court, has the authority to enforce the 14th Amendment’s anti-insurgency clause legislatively, and he urged the Supreme Court to rule on the question of whether the events of January 6 constituted an “insurrection” as defined in the Constitution.
He also invoked Griffin’s rights to protect free speech.
“If the decision … is to stand, at least in New Mexico, it is now a crime of insurrection to gather people to pray together for the United States of America on the restricted ground and unidentified from the Capitol building,” the Florida-based office said. Defense attorney Peter Ticktin argued on Griffin’s behalf in court filings.
During the trial, Mathew, the judge, called Griffin’s free speech arguments self-serving and not credible, noting that the then-commissioner had spread lies about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump in a series of speeches at rallies during a cross-country trip. starting with New Mexico, calling on crowds to accompany him to Washington on January 6 and join the “war” over the results of the presidential election.
Mathew said recordings from a videographer accompanying Griffin outside the U.S. Capitol showed the county commissioner “inciting the mob, even after seeing members of the mob a short distance away attack police officers and violently attempt to break into the Capitol building.”
The New Mexico Supreme Court later refused to hear the case after Griffin failed to meet procedural deadlines.
On the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack this year, Griffin portrayed himself as a victim of political persecution while speaking at a rally in the rural community of Gillette, in the Wyoming, at the invitation of the county Republican Party.
“God is truly allowing me to have some amazing days,” Griffin said. ‘Jan. 6 was a day like no other. It was a day of a type of patriotism I had never seen before, and I was honored to be there.
In 2019, Griffin formed a rodeo acquaintances group within the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which held horseback parades in support of Trump’s conservative message on gun rights, immigration control and restrictions on abortion.
While still a county commissioner, Griffin joined fellow Republicans in refusing to certify the results of the June 2022 primary election, due to their distrust of the voting systems used to tally votes , even though the county elections official said there were no problems.
The board ultimately certified the election by a 2-1 vote, with Griffin still voting no based on “gut feeling.”
Griffin weathered a recall campaign in 2021. After his disqualification, Griffin was tried and acquitted by a jury in his home county in March 2023 on allegations that he refused to register and disclose donors of Cowboys for Trump.