It was a busy week to be covering government in Otero County, as the years-long saga surrounding County Commissioner Couy . Two other defendants have pleaded guilty to brining unregistered firearms in their vehicles. He also said that, if appealed, it could give the Supreme Court an opportunity to weigh in on this question without directly deciding on a case involving Trump. While the decision of a state court isnt binding elsewhere, New York Universitys Daniel Hemel noted, it could embolden similar efforts to disqualify people from office with more direct ties to the insurrection up to and including Trump. 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. Susana Martinez. The dismissed charge against Griffin carried a potential punishment of up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Instead, he showed up Monday as a passenger in a pickup truck that had a horse trailer on the back. Griffin's lawyers say that unlike the other protesters, he did not enter the Capitol, but instead stood on the steps of the building urging on others with a bullhorn, Buzzfeed News reported. "I'm serious," he continued, "That's, that's how and I hate to be so crazy conspiracy-minded. People try to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. A judge said Couy Griffin's stated remorse for January 6 conflicted with incendiary public comments. Military Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin sentenced for trespassing The New Mexico county commissioner said he merely went to the Capitol to pray with protesters By Tom Jackman and. Griffin has made a series of controversial statements calling for violence against his political opponents. Griffin could face up to a year in prison is he is convicted. Prosecutors played video clips that showed Griffin moving through the mob that formed outside the Capitol, where police used pepper spray to quell rioters. Griffin was sentenced to 14 days in prison but credited for the 20 days he served ahead of trial. Griffins lawyer said he doesnt plan to call any defense witnesses. 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. Trump cowboy found not guilty of campaign finance charge Struck testified that he and Griffin went to the Capitol to find a place to pray. Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin has reportedly been offered a plea deal for charges related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 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. He shouldn't be punished for showing his pride in his country, Miller said. What now? GOP commission refuses to certify New Mexico primary vote Griffin is charged with two misdemeanors: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. Indeed, in allowing Greene to remain in office, a judge had emphasized there was no evidence to show that Rep. Greene participated in the Invasion itself or communicated with or issued directives to persons who engaged in the Invasion. Griffin was much easier to tie directly to the insurrection, and he has now been found to have directly engaged in it. The ruling made Couy Griffin, a county commissioner in New Mexico, the first official in more than 100 years to be removed under the Constitutions bar on insurrectionists holding office. McFadden acquitted Griffin of disorderly conduct but convicted him of the misdemeanor charge of entering a restricted building or grounds. Prosecutors also pointed to more recent social media posts and statements in which Griffin appeared to mock his March guilty verdict and display a lack of contrition for the Capitol attack, underscoring how January 6 defendants have talked themselves into deeper trouble amid their criminal proceedings. Griffin arrived in a cowboy hat, and the trial featured video footage of him on the Capitol grounds. Magliocca said the New Mexico decision could reverberate, not just for people like Mastriano, but if Democrats retain control of Congress and want to challenge the seating of certain Republicans tied to Jan. 6. If convicted, Griffin faces up to a year in prison on each of the two charges against him: trespassing and disorderly conduct on restricted Capitol grounds. 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.. 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. Couy Griffin, a 48-year-old Republican elected official from Alamogordo, N.M., and founder of a pro-Donald Trump grass-roots group, had challenged U.S. prosecutors to prove Pence's whereabouts. Stay up to date with what you want to know. 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. 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 said he and fellow commissioners don't see the process as trustworthy. But the last time the section of the amendment was enforced was in 1919, when Congress refused to seat a socialist member who was accused of giving aid and comfort to Germany during World War I. Defense attorney Nicholas Smith asked Hawa if it was Pences decision to remain there for hours. Thats hugely significant. 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. He also took part in a multicity bus tour arranged by the pro-Trump group Women for America First designed to recruit protesters to go to Washington for Mr. Trumps speech on Jan. 6, in which the president called on his supporters to fight like hell against his election loss and urged them to march to the Capitol while Congress was meeting to confirm it. He later said that he had been attempting to lead them in prayer. This story has been shared 264,224 times. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. "I'm really hoping that the judge will dismiss the charges," Griffin told the Albuquerque Journal in June. 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. But Griffin has resisted pressure to register the group as a political committee, including filing an unsuccessful petition to the 10th District Court of Appeals. 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 cowboy Couy Griffin found not guilty of campaign finance charge In a statement, the FBI's Washington Field Office told Insider that Couy Griffin, an elected Republican county commissioner in New Mexico, was detained Sunday afternoon by US Capitol Police,. Griffin's attorney also accused state campaign finance regulators of bias and singling out Cowboys for Trump for enforcement. Liberal groups have filed legal challenges in Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina and Wisconsin seeking to block lawmakers accused of supporting the Jan. 6 rioters including some prominent Republican members of Congress from holding office under the Constitution. Griffin is thinking about running for Catron County sheriff. In court testimony, State Elections Director Mandy Vigil said that state regulators typically negotiate with political groups to encourage registration without seeking sanctions. In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutors argued that Griffin used Cowboys for Trump to explicitly link political advocacy to appeals for online donations, while flouting registration and financial disclosure requirements for political committees that are designed to ensure transparency and fairness in elections. 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Contacted Monday, Griffin expressed concern that registering Cowboys for Trump as a political group could lead to reprisals against donors. Prosecutors have said that Pence remained at the Capitol complex during the relevant period. 6.). A CNN reporter was left flabbergasted when a man charged with breaching the U.S. Capitol on January 6 said that he was not convinced about the veracity of two of the insurrection's fatalities. 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. Pence remained in the loading dock location for four to five hours and never left the security perimeter before the joint session of Congress resumed on the night of Jan. 6, Hawa testified.