Griffin, the only dissenter, called his vote in from Washington, where he had just been sentenced to 14 days in jail time served for his role in the Capitol attack. Cowboys for Trump still owes the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office $7,800 in fines. Griffin lists himself as manager of Cowboys for Trump. For two hours, Clements who has the rumpled look of an academic, though he lost his business school professors job last fall for refusing to wear a mask in class spoke of breached voting machines, voter roll manipulation and ballot stuffing that he falsely claims cost former president Donald Trump victory in 2020. Contact Senator Griggs and Burton for Yes. 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. The New Mexico attorney general investigated embattled former Otero County Commissioner and Cowboys For Trump founder Couy Griffin for using C4T funds for personal use and taking official acts as commissioner for his personal gain. Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin is confronting a trial by jury on charges that he. SANTA FE A New Mexico judge ordered Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin be removed from office, effective immediately, ruling that the attack on the Capitol was an insurrection and that Griffin's participation in it disqualified him under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Couy Griffin: As far as regret goes, I dont have any regret from that day. "There's no absolutely no reason for this," she said. Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, ardent election-fraud conspiracy theorist and founder of Cowboys for Trump, avoided more jail time on Friday for his role in the January 6, 2021, US . Any further details regarding Kourtnie have not been disclosed yet. Cell phone video captured the violence and chaos of that day. The former Disneyland rodeo cowboy once rode down New York's Sixth Avenue wearing the furs of bobcats and coyotes he trapped and skinned, brandishing an American flag. Everette Brown, a Marine veteran and information technology specialist at Holloman Air Force Base who is Black, said that comment shows politics have changed Griffin, whom he once respected. A group of prominent constitutional attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on Aug. 1 arguing that Griffin should be removed from office. "Never have. The need for the audit in New Mexico was more in the likes of Bernalillo County, and Sandoval County and Doa Ana County," referring to areas where President Joe Biden won the 2020 vote. Some extra notes, quotes, news and notes from the Lobos Friday night basketball game in, To say that defense was optional would imply is was a choice. Still, the audit rumbles on, and could yet have widespread implications. They are wrong about voting technology, election processes, certification, and legal requirements, Skoglund said. "On the afternoon of January 17, 2021, the U.S. Capitol Police notified the FBI that they had detained Couy Griffin of New Mexico, who was the subject of an arrest warrant for his role in the . Griffin, who was once thanked by Trump for saying The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat and who was convicted of a misdemeanor for entering a restricted area during the Capitol riot, has long alleged the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Hes part of a smaller cadre who flirted with insurrection on Trumps behalf and may still pay a high price. 0:00. ", "To the extent that their goal is to actually have a negative impact on voter confidence," she added, "we are very concerned about the election in 2022, and obviously in 2024.". They say Griffin didnt partake in violence and was well within his free speech rights as he voiced election grievances and attempted to lead a prayer with a bullhorn. 2-23-23 Alamogordo Town News Thursday Edition with Anthony Lucero KALHRadio.org, Creative Arts Community Action Alert Senate Action Begins Saturday. Authors of the brief include Laurence Tribe, a professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard, and Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California Berkeley School of Law. "It's been such a battle," he said. Like others preaching the gospel of election fraud, Clements has attracted a large following online, where he mixes conspiracies with Christian nationalist and sometimes violent rhetoric. In addition Mr. Griffin sent an email to his supporters which said, If convicted of this charge I could be sentenced to a year in state prison. For years, Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin has been Donald Trump's most flamboyant supporter in New Mexico, creating spectacles and controversy in equal measure. Griffin said he is confident the judge will dismiss the lawsuit. But his allegiance to Trump has wavered. Griffin: You know the drugs right now are horrible, the property crime is horrible, and theres two of you guys riding around citing people for no seatbelts?Officer: So, wed probably be doing the drug stuff if you were wearing your seatbelt.Griffin: Oh, really? "You know, here I am still in a county that still has a great fire threat," Griffin said. Neither, however, has experience running elections or formal education in voting machine systems. "And it's cost me everything - from a marriage, to finances, to friends.". KOB-TV, LLC Ron DeSantis by about 15 points in a new Republican presidential poll, with newly announced candidate Nikki Haley and former Vice . The Oath Keeper. Couy Griffin was wanted on an arrest warrant after storming the barricades of the Capitol Jan. 6, said authorities. After years of unwavering support, Griffin suggested he. The donut shop has announced it has closed its South Valley and Northeast Heights locations. He had a son with her, who currently lives with her. Any person with disabilities who needs help accessing the content of the FCC Public File may contact KOB via our online formor call 505-243-4411. KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos. The role of creativity in resilience and community-building, Alamogordo Proud Downtown Nights Otero Arts Exhibition Opening, Late Shopping and More, Downtown stores open till 8 pm Friday student art exhibition and more, Alamogordo Proud It is All About the Fashion Spotlight Alamogordo Artisan Linda Swenson, Alamogordo Proud is All about the fashions of Alamogordo's Linda Swenson, AlamogordoTownNews.com Tularosa High School Students Excel in Competitions, AlamogordoTownNews.com Not Guilty! The cowboy. Griffin and Cowboys for Trump refused to do so and the case went to arbitration. I know they do. Clementss strategy is to target his message locally: to county commissioners and clerks, jobs that are lower profile but that wield an outsize role in administering Americas decentralized election system. The political operative. Expect tightened security in the area of New York Avenue and an influx of press in the area on Tuesday. This could either be the final nail in my coffin or this could be a true day of reckoning. Couy Griffin and his horse grift America. For now, Griffin has halted the petition with an appeal to the state Supreme Court, which hasnt decided whether to intervene. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Brittany Costello: A number of people are facing charges, including you. The 14th Amendment bars from office anyone who once took an . US District Judge Trevor McFadden heard one day of testimony without a jury on Monday before handing down a verdict in the misdemeanor case against Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, a. In the search warrant documents filed with the court investigators detail that a Griffin supporter, Casey Conlee, created a Cowboys For Trump GoFundMe account to raise funds under the groups name. , Case dismissed for teen accused of taking gun to, Elderly man who killed sister takes plea deal, 2023 state basketball tournament brackets, Whats happening around New Mexico Feb. 24 Mar. "I asked him, Mr. President, do you know where Cloudcroft, New Mexico is?" More immediately, Griffin is eyeing an open 2022 sheriffs race in another New Mexico county where he grew up. He is awaiting trial. Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin, who is facing charges in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot, has turned on the former president in a conference speech for abandoning January 6. Couy Griffin is a white man from Tularosa, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Email addresses are used solely for verification and to speed the verification process for repeat questioners. Griffin had recently been booted out of office following his conviction on federal charges for trespassing outside the Capitol building during the January 6 attack. Just weeks later, in October 2021, he was fired, by his own account, for refusing to wear a mask in class. He also says Cowboys for Trump is a for-profit company, not a political group. In a conversation with The Associated Press, Griffin says he learned to love the spotlight during five years as an expert rodeo hand in a Wild West show at Paris Disneyland park. So whats the solution?. A first-term commissioner in New Mexico's Otero County, Griffin rose to national prominence in May 2020 when Trump tweeted a video of him proclaiming that "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat." In 2019, he founded the for-profit "Cowboys for Trump" organization and has described himself as a "peaceful patriot." And he boasted about his participation in the January 6 storming of the Capitol. Wearing a Cowboys for Trump shirt, and sitting in the office he shares with the heads of a deer and an elk, Griffin discussed the roots of his brand of populist politics. This story has been shared 143,593 times. They embrace the instructions of leaders like former Trump adviser turned podcaster Stephen K. Bannon, who has urged election deniers to run for local races and sign up to be poll workers in what he calls his precinct-by-precinct takeover strategy. Regardless of the outcome of this trial an appeal is expected. And yet he remains determined. He sees. On January 17 last year, the Justice Department released a statement saying that Griffin was being charged with 'knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry' adding that he had said in a video, later removed, that, "we could have a Second Amendment rally on those same steps that we had that rally yesterday. Alice Fordham joined the news team in 2022 after a career as an international correspondent, reporting for NPR from the Middle East and later Latin America and Europe. Here are 13 more things about Couy: In at least one case detailed in the affidavit, Griffin paid his ex-wife $350.00 from Cowboys for Trump LLC to cover his child support obligations. The Otero County commissioner is facing charges for his alleged role in the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Ct. Sept. 6, 2022) [hereinafter Griffin . Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said that her office was working to ensure the process does not compromise the "security and integrity" of the tabulating machines used in the elections. Griffin had previously sued Toulouse Oliver claiming he was not required to register or file as a political committee. Some have. South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty on all four counts in connection with the 2021 murders of . In the end, the commissioners voted to sue the secretary of states office for forcing them to certify the primary results. Published: January 6, 2022 - 1:40 PM. That is what our motive and our focus has to be. And yet, Griffin said in an interview that the audit is strategic, designed to forge a path so other counties in New Mexico audit their elections, a gambit that echoes a nationwide push by Republican officials to sow doubt about election results by pushing for audits. The couple soon found an ally in Couy Griffin, a flamboyant former Disneyland Paris rodeo cowboy who until this week was a member of the county commission in Otero, a rural New Mexico community of 69,000 along the Texan border. The producing partners have signed a multi-year first-look development and production deal for film and TV via their Mortal Media production banner. He lives in a doublewide trailer. Otero Arts Puppet Show, Authors Lecture and More, Childrens Art Exhibition Opening Night Otero Arts. Thats hard for me to accept.. And since he is still in office, he was able to push for the audit. Officer: Reason why I stopped you, is I observed when you were back there and you werent wearing your seatbelt. Clements said in a brief interview in Nebraska that he believes his efforts are noble. The officers call Griffin over and the traffic stop gets ugly. He saw the sawmill's work as "curating" the forest. "There have already been three audits," including one by the Secretary of State's office and another by an independent contractor. This Otero County election review is part of a nationwide trend. Yet he couldn't say why its principal place of business is listed as Santa Fe but its mailing address is in Spokane, Wash. Griffin said. Officer: Hello, sir.Griffin: How you doing? Clementss allegations extend to voting machines made by multiple companies, including Dominion Voting Systems, which are used in New Mexico and have been the target of false claims by Trump supporters. Meanwhile, state prosecutors are investigating allegations Griffin used his office in coordination with Cowboys for Trump for personal financial gain, and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. Former Otero County Commissioner and well-known rabble-rouser Couy Griffin was pulled over in Alamogordo in his Dodge Ram in early November. The first-term county commissioner forged a group of rodeo acquaintances in 2019 into a promotional Cowboys for Trump posse to spread his conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions. I just went to stand in what I believe is my constitutional right, to peacefully protest. Pecchia wrote a recommendation letter for Clements for a teaching award that recognizes excellence in pre-tenure professors. C4T still also has not filed as a political action committee. I dont have the same confidence in him, Griffin said. He broadcast from the January 6, 2021 takeover of the US Capitol looking like the Cowboy Church pastor he used to be, in a tie and cowboy hat. Its like hes been radicalized somehow. He has appeared on Fox News and on Bannons podcast. His concern is the direction of this country, where its going.. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. Friday night on, Senate Bill 2 would bring the pay of state Supreme Court justices in line with. and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. With calls for an independent investigation of the Capitol siege blocked by Senate Republicans, Griffin is out on bail and speaking his mind. All they need to do to change the system, he assured them, is to win over a handful of commission votes. Mr Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, said in an interview with journalist Mr Griffin that he believed both Sicknick and Ashli Babbitt are still alive. Early in his life, he struggled with drugs, alcohol and an assault conviction, he has said. He sees. They even quote me and cite my work on voting systems with modems and internet connectivity, but I disagree with every conclusion they draw from my work., I dont think he understands what hes talking about most of the time, said Greenhalgh. Clements, who was born in Seattle, grew up the child of itinerant parents who worked blue-collar jobs. The second trial in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot case is underway Monday, with New Mexico county commissioner, self-proclaimed cowboy and noted conspiracy theorist Couy Griffin appearing . Mr. Griffin has opted to be defended by a public defender for this case with home court advantage. The audience, which included a local minister, a bank teller and farmers in their overalls, gasped in horror or whispered wow with each new claim. As CPAC's 2023 edition kicks off, the man who greets the myriad right-wing activists and supporters descending on Maryland . Im asking you all to consider showing up to an air-conditioned building, organizing, opening your mouth and saying: These machines suck. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. New Mexicos secretary of state has also rejected the allegations. Clements was saying, Youre zombies, man. Liz Howard, Senior Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, said that contractors hired to do these audits frequently have little to no experience in election administration. Both are extremely concerning and truly terrifying to say the least.. The canvass was part of a controversial third-party audit that commissioners had voted to spend nearly $50,000 on in January, despite the fact that the county went overwhelmingly for Trump, with the incumbent winning nearly 62 percent of the vote. It sounds good and people believe it because it sounds authoritative if you dont know much.. Why? he asked. A donkey named Henry brays from a side yard. Griffin has cast Democratic Gov. Clements said in an interview that as an attorney he was eminently qualified to talk about the legalities surrounding voting machines, and that his wife, Erin, has two decades of expertise working with data as a civil engineer. They have a Son Together was born in 2014. The group captivated the public imagination with its first outing, a 2019 flag-waving ride down the shore of the Potomac River to Arlington National Cemetery. A year later, he still believes the election was tampered with. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. He was a rodeo cowboy at Disneyland Paris and a pastor at the Cowboy Church in Alamogordo. 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. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. The 249-page lawsuit alleges that Griffin can be removed as an Otero County commissioner for violating his oath of office because the 14th Amendment states that no officeholder sworn to uphold the Constitution shall have engaged in insurrection against the same, according to the suit. Yeah. A recent report from congressional Democrats on election misinformation highlighted Clementss activities and concluded that the greatest current threat to democratic legitimacy now comes from lies by domestic actors who seek to convince Americans that their election systems are fraudulent, corrupt, or insecure., New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who has clashed repeatedly with Clements and his wife, said the misinformation and disinformation were being seeded as core beliefs, not just with elected officials but the general public.. A New Mexico judge on Tuesday disqualified Couy Griffin, a county commissioner who founded Cowboys for Trump, from serving in public office ever again because of his participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.. Driving the news: The judge ruled that Griffin is "barred for life" from serving as an elected official, effective immediately, under the 14th Amendment because he took part in the . Dominion officials have denied all allegations made against the company, filing multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuits against various people who spread the claims. New . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Subscribe now to access decluttered news, chosen by you. But in a recent interview in Alamogordo, Griffin was determined to keep fighting for Trump, despite the audit's problems, plus the charges he faces for his role in the Capitol attack, financial difficulties and a profound disappointment in the former president himself. I wasnt charged with insurrection because the evidence to criminally charge me was not there according to the letter of the law, he said. But David and Erin Clements pressed on, appearing before the three-member, all-Republican Otero commission with a new target: the states June 7 primary. With the pickup still running, the state cop walks back to his patrol car and notes to his partner.. 70 202 Republican primary candidates embracing Trumps stolen election rhetoric have flourished this year. Griffin still wears a monogrammed Cowboys for Trump shirt to commission meetings. The county sheriffs sole duty and responsibility is to protect our individual rights, he said. D-101-CV-2022-00473, 2022 WL 4295619 (N.M. Dist. Magda Jean-Louis and Alice Crites contributed to this report. On Aug. 11, Clements and his wife presented the final findings of their audit in a special five-hour commissioners meeting, during which he got into a shouting match with the county attorney and told Holmes she should resign because it was disgusting how you fight the people. She left the meeting in tears. Because I care about the truth. But my hope rests on the law, and the law is available to us all.. You can play on an old beat-out dirt lot.. Hed like to reinvent the sheriffs role as a brake on the governors power. Ramie Harper, a 67-year-old former bull rider from Fruitland, took a break from making custom hats to join the caravan. "The reports that we've subsequently seen put out by these people have been riddled with falsehoods," she said. Couy Griffin, one of three commissioners in Otero county in southern New Mexico, was immediately removed from his position and cannot hold elected office again, Francis Mathew, a district judge in . "I was raised in the shadow of a great man," he said. By March, volunteers organized by David and Erin Clements calling themselves the New Mexico Audit Force were going door to door in Otero County asking citizens about how they voted in 2020. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. Nichols, and awarded a nearly $50,000 contract to audit about 24,000 votes to Echomail, which was among the companies who audited the 2020 vote in Maricopa County, AZ. I got a better idea. Griffin is presumed innocent until proven guilty. "They see that I'm willing to take a stand," he said. He sees. Griffin has claimed he did not knowingly trespass. I was to the point that, You guys arent even telling half-truths anymore,' she recalled. His 12 th-round knockout of Ilunga . On September 6, 2022, Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin was ordered removed from office by a New Mexico judge, as a result of his participation in the January 6th insurrection and attack on the Capitol. "And he kind of laughed and said no. She grew up in the U.K. and has a small jar of Marmite in her kitchen for emergencies. I totally take exception to the idea that Robyn Holmes our Republican clerk doesnt know what shes doing. . Kourtnie served in the US military and is a war Veteran. Do you regret anything that happened? Weve never experienced a national coup, he told the crowd, standing before red, white and blue signs strung up alongside a bingo board. Clements says he is not paid for his appearances but asks for donations for travel expenses at the door. She also worked as a podcast producer for The Economist among other outlets, and tries to meld a love of sound and storytelling with solid reporting on the community. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Couy Griffin, Cowboys for Trump founder and Otero County commissioner, was arrested last year for his . My vote to remain a no isnt based on any evidence, its not based on any facts, its only based on my gut feeling and my own intuition, and thats all I need, Griffin said, his drawl tinny on the speakerphone. Griffin is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Weve figured out how theyre screwing you out of your vote, Clements said. ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) New video shows former County Commissioner Couy Griffin getting pulled over and getting into it with police officers. Page provides news from near and far about our hero of. One recent still summer night in this tiny city on the Nebraska prairie, more than 60 people showed up at a senior citizens center to hear attorney David Clements warn of an epidemic of purported election fraud.
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