WASHINGTON A judge in New Mexico on Tuesday ordered a county commissioner convicted of participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol removed from office under the 14th Amendment, making him the first public official in more than a century to be barred from serving under a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office. Jurors also convicted him of obstructing Congress from certifying the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, of interfering with police officers who were guarding the Capitol and of threatening his two teenage children if they reported him to law enforcement. He acknowledged that Griffin was not criminally convicted of insurrection and there is no evidence that Griffin engaged in violence himself. "Pretty soon, it was like a huge, amazing Trump rally," Griffin said. McFadden said the "vast majority" of Capitol rioters who remained outside the building were "not charged at all," and he suggested that Griffin only faced prosecution if he hadn't "gone to such lengths to publicize his actions.". Some have sought to wield that seldom-invoked provision against members of Congress, without success, and even floated using it against Trump. I wonder who wrote it?. Newsweek reached out to Griffin for comment. Griffin, an ardent conspiracy theorist who refused to certify the state's primary election results this summer in Otero County, told CNN he has been ordered to clean out his office and attacked. When McFadden posed a boilerplate question about whether Griffin had taken drugs or alcohol the accused Capitol rioter said he'd had a couple beers the night before. The two-day trial began Tuesday with jury selection in state District Court at Alamogordo, the New Mexico community where Griffin served as an Otero County commissioner until he was banished from office last year for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Last year, he became the first elected official to be banished from elected office in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol building, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory. Prosecutors called Matthew Struck, who traveled with Griffin to Washington, DC, and recorded videos of him on January 6. The board ultimately certified the election on a 2-1 vote with Griffin still voting no based on a gut feeling., 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Matt Dahlseid/Santa Fe New Mexican, via Associated Press. A key question in Griffins case is whether he entered a restricted area while Pence was still present on Capitol grounds, a prerequisite for the U.S. Secret Service to invoke access restrictions. Back in the studio, Drew Griffin said that Cuoy Griffin was "so far off the rails" with his belief in the conspiracy theories, that "I would dare to use the loaded term, he is brain-washed. With Struck on the stand, prosecutors played one video in which Griffin recounted members of the pro-Trump mob spilling over barriers outside the Capitol. A January 6-related trial began Monday in the case of "Cowboys for Trump" founder Couy Griffin. He was arrested and charged upon his return to Washington. Contacted Monday, Griffin expressed concern that registering Cowboys for Trump as a political group could lead to reprisals against donors. I'm not even so sure Ashli Babbitt is dead.". Griffin said he and fellow commissioners don't see the process as trustworthy. The final hearing: The House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol held its final public meeting where members referred four criminal charges against former president Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department. Its the first time a U.S. president has sought to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Griffin, the elected Republican commissioner of New Mexico's Otero County, was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry on January 17. The answer to that was yes, as the clip then segued into an interview with Babbitt's brother, Roger Witthoeft who described how close the siblings had been and how he was dealing with her loss. The sentencing effectively ruled out any further prison time for Griffin barring a violation of his probation in connection with his involvement in the January 6 attack. I lived a life devoted to the Lord, Griffin said. At the outset of the bench trial, McFadden confirmed that Griffin wanted his verdict decided by a judge rather than a jury. After his arrest, Griffin was initially ordered held without bond, in part because he said on a video he would return to Washington for the inauguration of Joe Biden and theres going to be blood running out of that building. He was released 20 days later, in part because he might be awaiting trial longer than the maximum six-month misdemeanor sentence he faced. McFadden dismissed that claim as "preposterous.". Mr. Griffin was sentenced in June to 14 days in prison. They said Griffin was a politician in his own right who clearly advocated for Trump while the president was a candidate for reelection, and that Griffin also promoted political positions on border enforcement, gun rights, abortion and more. He has occasionally surfaced in national news for his violent rhetoric and his efforts to impugn the election results in his home state as recently as this summer.). SANTA FE, N.M. -- Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin was found not guilty Wednesday of a misdemeanor charge of failing to register a political committee at a trial in southern New Mexico. After all, if Couy Griffin is disqualified from holding office for his role in Jan. 6, then shouldnt Donald Trump be disqualified for his even greater role in Jan. 6th?. According to a court document, he wrote on Twitter that District Judge Trevor McFaddens PRE written response announcing the verdict was pathetic! But he found that Griffins actions met the standard set forth by the 14th Amendment, citing Griffins violent rhetoric and evidence of his actions at the Capitol. Ahead of Friday's hearing, federal prosecutors recommended that he receive 90 days in prison but receive credit for those 20 days already served a period months below the maximum sentence of a year in custody. The disqualification of Berger, for instance, was later widely regarded as overreach. 6.). They are as mistaken as you are, McFadden said. It could have real implications for protecting the country from people associated with the effort to overturn the last election., Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, adopted during Reconstruction to punish members of the Confederacy for taking up arms against their country in the Civil War, declares that no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution, had then engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.. Whether this will ultimately stand up if appealed remains a major question and one that could have far-ranging implications. agent who had instigated the mob that day. Newsweek has contacted Cuoy Griffin's county commission office for comment. as well as other partner offers and accept our. the judge asked. Anyone can read what you share. McFadden also ordered Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, to pay a $3,000 fine and ordered a yearlong period of probation. . Cuoy Griffin, a 1/6 suspect, says he doubts two of the fatalities caused by the insurrection. Federal prosecutors had pointed out that the secretary of state in New Mexico has asked for a criminal investigation into Griffins actions in refusing to certify the primary election there. Instead, he showed up Monday as a passenger in a pickup truck that had a horse trailer on the back. His trial comes just weeks after a jury in Washington, DC, found Guy Reffitt guilty on five charges, including possession of a firearm on Capitol grounds. According to a court document, Griffin tweeted after the trial that the media has tried to make me look like the biggest loser the last couple days. In addition to objecting to being tested, Griffin has also been vocal proponent of ignoring medical advice calling for COVID-19 vaccinations or the wearing of masks amid the pandemic. "I'm really hoping that the judge will dismiss the charges," Griffin told the Albuquerque Journal in June. (Berger was later seated after his espionage conviction was overturned.). Couy Griffin had returned to DC and was taken into custody just blocks away from the Capitol after Capitol Police officers ran his license plate and noticed that he had an outstanding warrant. Success in the latter scenario remains unlikely, especially in the absence of a criminal conviction. Hawa said agents took Pence from his office at the Capitol to a secure location at an underground loading dock on the Capitol complex. This just went from being theoretical to being something that is legally recognized and legally possible, said Noah Bookbinder, director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan watchdog organization that filed suit against Mr. Griffin on behalf of a group of New Mexico residents. A federal judge on Tuesday found Couy Griffin, a founder of Cowboys for Trump and the second January 6 defendant to go on trial as part of the Justice Department's massive prosecution, guilty of . . Why did he motion Byrd to wait? Since early 2020, Griffin has resisted pressure to register the group as a political committee, including filing an unsuccessful petition with the 10th District Court of Appeals. Five people died on that day or in the immediate aftermath, and 140 police officers were assaulted. Griffin said in a text message that he felt "blessed to be judged by a jury of peers" in his home community and has "never felt as vindicated." Trump cowboy Couy Griffin found not guilty of. The trial forced prosecutors to disclose the location of vice president Mike Pence during the riot, over Secret Service objections, to prove that Griffin had entered a restricted area, though he did not enter the Capitol itself. Griffin is constitutionally disqualified from serving, the judge wrote. SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee, Trump Ramps up Attacks on DeSantis: 'Dropping Like a Rock', Russian Strikes on Pavlohrad Aim to Hamper Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Greg Abbott Criticized for Response to Texas Shooting: 'A New Low', Democrat Sold First Republic Stock, Bought JP Morgan Before Collapse, Conservative Influencers Struggle With Countering Biden's Messaging. had a first row seat.". Addressing McFadden on Friday, Griffin said he was "very sorry" for the violence of January 6 and described as "disgraceful" the many assaults on police who were protecting the Capitol. Pro-Trump "Kraken" lawyer Sidney Powell recently volunteered her services to help the group reverse a court order to register as a political action committee and pay accumulated fines. Babbitt was shot and killed by police as she tried to force her way past a barricaded doorway. Couy Dale Griffin (born 1973) is a former politician who served from 2019 to 2022 as a county commissioner for District 2 of Otero County, New Mexico, which covers Tularosa, Three Rivers, La Luz, the western parts of Alamogordo, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation. "Several of the defendant's statements in the recording of the meeting constitute either direct admissions that he was illegally present in a restricted area or evidence of the defendant's state of mind during and after January 6, 2021," prosecutors said. Miller, a public defender, said Griffin's intention was to speak boldly and openly about common sense convictions and national pride without yielding to government control through the regulation of nonprofit groups. Terms of Use / Privacy Policy / Manage Newsletters, Trump cowboy found not guilty of campaign finance charge, New Mexico bars commissioner from office for insurrection, Official guilty of illegally entering Capitol grounds Jan. 6, Secret Service says Pence taken to underground loading dock during U.S. Capitol riot, Cowboys for Trump founder appeals recall bid to high court, Effort advances to recall Cowboys for Trump founder, Cowboys for Trump leader wont resign his Otero County post, Cowboys for Trump leader released from jail pending trial, Cowboys for Trump leader appeals for pre-trial release, Judge denies release of jailed Cowboys for Trump leader, Cowboys for Trump leader refuses virus test in jail, Cowboys for Trump leader seeks release from Washington jail, Cowboys for Trump leaders seeks cover for financial backers, Jailed Cowboys for Trump leader urged to quit county office, Cowboys for Trump leader arrested over US Capitol riot, Trump accuses overly political National Archives of letting him leave W.H.
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