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. 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 that disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory. The outcome of Griffins trial also could have a ripple effect, helping others to decide whether to let a judge or a jury decide their case. Defense attorney Jonathan Miller portrayed Griffin as just a guy who rides a horse" and tried to do the right thing by registering Cowboys for Trump as a for-profit corporation and notifying donors that they cannot deduct donations from taxes. They include GOP gubernatorial nominees Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Dan Cox in Maryland, who both organized buses for the Stop the Steal rally. Griffin's attorney also accused state campaign finance regulators of bias and singling out Cowboys for Trump for enforcement. Griffin's defense lawyers plan to argue that, because Pence was rushed away amid the mayhem of January 6, the Capitol grounds were no longer a restricted, Secret Service-protected area by the time he was there. After climbing over a stone wall and entering a restricted area outside the Capitol, Griffin said, This is our house we should all be armed, according to prosecutors. Griffin is charged with illegally entering Capitol grounds the day a pro-Trump mob disrupted certification of Joe Biden's presidential election victory on Jan. 6, 2021. Not Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner and founder of Cowboys for Trump.. Couy Griffin banned from holding public office over role in Jan. 6 riots. Instead, Griffinwho previously served as a preacher at a "cowboy church"crossed barriers to reach an area outside the building where he used a bullhorn to lead the crowd of former President Donald Trump's enraged supporters in prayer. In a segment on Anderson Cooper 360, Drew Griffin was recounting his interview with the founder of Cowboys for Trump, Cuoy Griffin, who is also a New Mexico county commissioner. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. The judge said Griffins many defenses were not credible, and nor was his summary of his role on Jan. Mr. In an hourlong hearing, McFadden sentenced Griffin to 14 days in prison but credited him for 20 days the Cowboys for Trump founder had served while awaiting trial. In a written closing statement in court, he had argued that he had been at the Capitol to lobby vice president Mike Pence to not certify the election results, and that, In no way does that pertain to nor support insurrection/rebellion, reported the Albuquerque Journal. "To mount a meaningful defense Griffin must be allowed to test the veracity of the Government's contention that Vice President Pence was on the Capitol grounds during the relevant period," McFadden ruled. The day-long trial is also expected to feature video footage of the January 14, 2021 meeting of the Otero County commissioners, where Griffin addressed his involvement in the Capitol attack. Most of these cases fizzled quickly, and none have succeeded. The decision interrupts a string of adverse legal decisions for Griffin, who remains barred from elected office under a judge's decision upheld by the New Mexico Supreme Court in February. Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours before delivering the verdict. McFadden told Griffin that as an elected state official, he had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution. At his sentencing, Griffin told the judge, I have huge respect for law enforcement and I am a respecter of the system. He said he had been a pastor before entering politics in Otero County. "I'm really hoping that the judge will dismiss the charges," Griffin told the Albuquerque Journal in June. Last year, Griffin insisted that "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat" and called on Trump to "hang" his opponents for their "Treasonous Acts." 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"I'm serious," he continued, "That's, that's how and I hate to be so crazy conspiracy-minded. This story has been shared 264,224 times. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Their first witness was Matthew Struck, who joined Griffin at the Capitol and served as his videographer. Since he didn't enter the Capitol, Griffin was at the "minimal end of criminality," the judge said. Around that time, Mr. Griffin also took part in an attempt by the Otero County commission to reject certification of a recent local election until voting machines in the county were inspected. State prosecutors accuse Griffin of a misdemeanor violation of failing to register as a political group, which is punishable by up to a year in prison and an additional $1,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30 in Washington. The confidential agreement was offered to Griffin during discussions at a Monday court hearing in Washington, D.C., according to the Associated Press. the judge asked. Instead, he showed up Monday as a passenger in a pickup truck that had a horse trailer on the back. The verdict from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in Alamogordo, the 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. Mr. 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. . Plenty of history very bad history was made on Jan. 6, 2021. They started chanting, Pray for Trump, Struck replied. He said he would participate in an Otero County commission meeting later Friday by phone to refuse to certify a recent election until the voting machines are inspected. Hemel added: I wouldnt want Couy Griffin to be my county commissioner, or anyones county commissioner, but I think defenders of democracy need to think long and hard about whether judicial disqualification is the wisest approach.. Some have sought to wield that seldom-invoked provision against members of Congress, without success, and even floated using it against Trump. A federal judge found Couy Griffin, a county commissioner from New Mexico and founder of the group "Cowboys For Trump," guilty on one of two counts stemming from the Capitol riot. Read The Posts analysis about the committees new findings and conclusions. 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. 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. (Griffin is the founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump, which has been promoted by the former president. WASHINGTON An elected official from New Mexico went to trial with a judge not a jury set to decide if he is guilty of charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol grounds on the daya pro-Trump mobdisrupted the certification of Joe Bidens presidential election victory. The ruling declared the Capitol assault an insurrection and unseated Couy Griffin, a commissioner in New Mexicos Otero County and the founder of Cowboys for Trump, who was convicted earlier this year of trespassing when he breached barricades outside the Capitol during the attack. After he was sentenced, Mr. Griffin urged reporters to examine a series of debunked conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, including one about an Arizona man who was falsely pegged as an undercover F.B.I. Newsweek has contacted Cuoy Griffin's county commission office for comment. I lived a life devoted to the Lord, Griffin said. 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. Abbott invoked the immigration status of shooting victims, How Trump made it cool for Republicans to hate their own party, JPMorgans acquisition of First Republic revives too-big-to-fail talk, removed Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin, to disqualify Socialist Rep. Victor Berger in 1919, sought to disqualify several members of Congress. But the judge said very few people who didnt enter the Capitol on Jan. 6 were charged, and sentenced Griffin to 14 days in jail and a $3,000 fine. They are as mistaken as you are, McFadden said. The strikes left 34 people injured, including three children, and caused widespread damage. Effort to bar Jan. 6 figures from office notches historic win. He had vowed to arrive at the courthouse on horseback. 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.). "What I was a part of on Jan. 6 wasn't a violent mob or anything that looked like an insurrection. That is offensive and wrong, Smith told the judge during his brief opening statements. Babbitt was shot and killed by police as she tried to force her way past a barricaded doorway. A New Mexico judge on Tuesday removed Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin by invoking the 14th Amendment's prohibition on those who engaged in insurrection from serving in office. On Jan. 6, Mr. Griffin and a videographer clambered over barricades at the Capitol and made their way onto the inauguration stage in front of the building. I went with the heart to pray with people, and that's what I did.". Griffins marching with the mob all the way to the inaugural stage, knowing the mobs insurrectionary purpose, likewise constitutes an overt act.. ", "Others like himI don't believe Cuoy would be dangerousbut others like him can and will be dangerous.". Trumps attack on democracy after the November 2020 election started out as an attempt to use the judicial process to deprive voters of their choice of leader. Stay up to date with what you want to know. In several high-profile races, those who didnt storm the Capitol but were otherwise involved in the Jan. 6 proceedings have won their partys nomination. McFadden also ordered Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, to pay a $3,000 fine and ordered a yearlong period of probation. In 2019, Griffin forged a group of rodeo acquaintances into the promotional group called Cowboys for Trump, which staged horseback parades to spread President Donald Trumps conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions. At the same time, Griffins conviction was for misdemeanor trespassing, for which he was sentenced to 14 days and a $3,000 fine. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. A judge said Couy Griffin's stated remorse for January 6 conflicted with incendiary public comments. Since Jan. 6, activists have sought to disqualify several members of Congress who supported questioning or overturning the 2020 election results, including Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.) as well as other partner offers and accept our. had a first row seat.". Smith asked Struck if anybody appeared to be riled up by the prayer that Griffin led. I wonder who wrote it?. Congress used the 14th Amendment to disqualify Socialist Rep. Victor Berger in 1919, but not the insurrection provision specifically, and this was not a court decision. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. Advocates for that approach now have a victory under their belts, though. He is among only three riot defendants who have asked for a bench trial, which means a judge will decide his case without a jury. In March, Judge Trevor N. McFadden, presiding at a bench trial in Federal District Court in Washington, found Mr. Griffin guilty of one misdemeanor count of illegally entering a restricted area at the Capitol and acquitted him of another that accused him of disorderly conduct. The 2024 presidential race begins: Will it be a repeat of 2020? More than 230 riot defendants have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors, and at least 127 of them have been sentenced. COVID report finds suicide calls, overdose deaths and mental illness soared in D.C. The verdict from a 12-member jury capped a two-day trial in Alamogordo, the 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. The text of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment states (key parts bolded): The last time elected officials were disqualified from office using the 14th Amendment appears to be 1869, shortly after the Civil War and the ratification of the 14th Amendment. What I was a part of was a peaceful protest where I joined shoulder-to-shoulder with like-minded patriots who have concerns about election integrity. Theyve got to resolve the question of Trumps eligibility as soon as possible. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Griffin, one of three members of the Otero County Commission in southern New Mexico, is among a handful of riot defendants who either held public office or ran for a government leadership post in the 2 1/2 years before the attack. (Griffin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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