Should Griffin be found guilty of the charge, he could be punished by a fine of up to $1,000 or by up to a year imprisonment, court records state. 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. What is relevant is what our state government is doing to anyone who still believes in basic rights as a free American. Ct. Sept. 6, 2022) [hereinafter Griffin . 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. The believer. This story has been shared 104,709 times. The lawsuit contends that Griffin violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits officeholders sworn to uphold the Constitution from engaging in an insurrection against the U.S. government. 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. He further stated in his plea for public support; this fight is much greater than the person of Couy Griffin. Here you have Couy Griffin as Cowboys For Trump not only hiding assets from his ex-wife and son. and signed a child-support check to his ex-wife from his Cowboys for Trump account. Couy Griffin was wanted on an arrest warrant after storming the barricades of the Capitol Jan. 6, said authorities. And he boasted about his participation in the January 6 storming of the Capitol. Griffin delivered a scathing rebuke last year as the NFL announced game-opening renditions of Lift Every Voice and Sing, also known as the Black national anthem. 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. He takes things and extrapolates them to a place that comes completely out of thin air. Stay turned to KALHRadio.org and the Alamogordo Town News and AlamogordoConservativeDaily.org for daily updates. Just this week, Griffins attorneys filed new motions on his behalf one demanding evidence and another claiming his charges are politically motivated. Mr Griffin, a county official in Otero County, New Mexico, added that the aftermath of the election had added to difficulties with relatives and his divorced wife. He said people wanting to sing the song popularly known as the Black national anthem should go back to Africa. Investigators said the investigation was launched after Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver referred her investigation into Griffins refusal to register C4T as a political committee and disclose donors and expenses. The attorney general also received numerous citizen complaints about Griffin. Yet two independent election security experts who have examined the Clements work Susan Greenhalgh, senior adviser on election security for the nonprofit Free Speech For People, and Kevin Skoglund, president and chief technologist for the nonpartisan Citizens for Better Elections said the fraud charges are baseless and misleading. The lawsuit against Griffin was filed in March by Marco White and Leslie Lakind, both Santa Fe County residents, along with Mark Mitchell of Los Alamos County. Subscribe now to access decluttered news, chosen by you. ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Couy Griffin, Cowboys for Trump founder and Otero County commissioner, was arrested last year for his . Clements ended on a mournful note just before the audience began trickling out into the quiet evening, the sun setting over fields of thirsty corn. A Donald Trump supporter, Griffin founded Cowboys for Trump and listed his sister Kay Griffin as its organizer. Emptying the Notebook: Can the Lobos get a defensive stop when it counts? He has sent out a public plea in an attempt to win in the court of public opinion, by garnering a large showing of supporters, shoulder to shoulder to appear at the Otero County Courthouse. Sicknick, a Capitol police. He sees himself as governor one day. I do worry about potential violence toward election officials, in particular around the upcoming general election, she said. And yet he remains determined. Griffin has claimed he did not knowingly trespass. And yet he remains determined. Their son was born in 2014. 0:00. I got a better idea. 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. The motion said Couy Griffin "has. And I said, well, you're gonna know exactly where it's at whenever the forest catches on fire around there, because it's gonna burn the whole town down. Speak up a little.Officer: I said I am going to issue a citation for a seatbelt. 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. Yeah.Officer: So if you want to waste our time here.. After the officer hands him the ticket, Griffin still gets in a parting shot. NELIGH, Neb. Anti-vaxxers quickly embraced Clements, with far-right Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann creating an online fundraiser for him and calling him a lightning rod of truth and courage. The appeal has since brought in more than $304,000 in donations, including from donors who say they support his election integrity crusade. 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. David Clements urged commissioners not to perform their statutory duty to certify the results, arguing that doing so would place them in legal jeopardy because of the problems they alleged with the machines. Defiance of federal government and its oversight of public lands are staples of politics in Otero County, which spans an area three times the size of Delaware, from the dunes of White Sands National Park to the peaks of the Lincoln National Forest. Couy Griffin confronts DuBois over appointment, derails meeting; Couy Griffin removed from Otero County Commission, barred from holding any future office But his allegiance to Trump has wavered. South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty on all four counts in connection with the 2021 murders of . Given his intelligence and accomplishments, the fact that hes decided to pursue this provably false theory is tragic and surprising, said Chris Luchini, the head of the Libertarian Party of New Mexico and a former colleague of Clements. "There have already been three audits," including one by the Secretary of State's office and another by an independent contractor. , 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. Hed like to reinvent the sheriffs role as a brake on the governors power. He raised this the first time the president called him. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. Couy's ex-wife, Kourtnie, is a 34 years old Iraqi war veteran who was born in the year 1986. Toward the end of the meeting, Donna Swanson, a former presiding poll judge in Otero County who worked with Holmes for years, stepped up to speak. Allison Kuhn won outstanding team leader, Otero Electric Co-op Making Progress Restoring Power in Cloudcroft, Mescalero and Mountain Villages, KALH Radio Alamogordo Town News Exclusive PreTrial Interview with Attorney Johnathon C Miller, Ole Time Revival Feel Welcome to Counselor Johnathon C Miller Sets stage for Couy Griffin Trial, 2nd Life Media AlamogordoTownNews.com Event Calendar. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. 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. Michelle Lujan Grisham as his political nemesis on issues of gun control, abortion and pandemic restrictions. Pecchia wrote a recommendation letter for Clements for a teaching award that recognizes excellence in pre-tenure professors. The donut shop has announced it has closed its South Valley and Northeast Heights locations. Griffin, who was convicted of a federal misdemeanor in March for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, is representing himself in the lawsuit, which has attracted the interest of nationally known constitutional scholars and attorneys. Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin confronted a trial by jury Tuesday on charges that he failed to register a political organization without filing related public financial disclosures. (Those findings were comprehensively rejected by the Maricopa County Elections Department.). This guy has gone off the deep end. The folksy origin story might have helped his successful 2018 run for county commissioner but once in office Griffin amplified violence and bigotry. Im not asking you all to storm the beaches of Normandy, to suffer a bloody death to save our republic. You know, and if we do, then its gonna be a sad day, because theres gonna be blood running out of that building." The first call to the press he made was to our reporter to the station we own. Griffin went to court over the seatbelt ticket where he was ordered to pay the $81 fine. Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party, says Griffins divisive remarks hinder county efforts to secure state infrastructure spending, and he has engaged in intimidation by recording Cowboys for Trump videos from his office with a shotgun within view. C4T still also has not filed as a political action committee. KOB-TV, LLC A New Mexico state judge on Thursday ordered convicted Capitol rioter Couy Griffin to be removed from his county commissioner seat, ruling that the Cowboys for Trump founder's involvement 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. Alamogordo High School Alamogordo Proud Breaking Stereotypes and Winning in Welding Competition, Alamogordo was the only team to be represented with female welders. Clements was saying, Youre zombies, man. Kourtnie Griffin, an Iraqi war veteran, understands "passions for God and country" and believes her ex-husband has a right to express his views, her lawyers said. 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. Holmes said this is baseless and runs the risk of eroding trust in democratic systems. "Just struggling every day with new regulations, new laws, new taxes," he said. Because I care about the truth. In Sandoval County, Clements had so riled residents that the commissioners had to be removed from the hearing room by sheriffs deputies for their safety after voting 4-1 to approve the results, according to County Commissioner Katherine Bruch, a Democrat. Still, the audit rumbles on, and could yet have widespread implications. Trumps election defeat has left the 47-year-old father in a lonely fight for his political life after preaching to crowds at the U.S. Capitol siege, promising to take his guns to Bidens inauguration and landing in jail for over a week. Both are extremely concerning and truly terrifying to say the least.. 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. Couy Griffin Career Griffin was found taking active participation in the 2021 US Capitol riots and was arrested for the same on 8th January 2021. TULAROSA, N.M. He rodeoed in a Buffalo Bill-style Wild West show, carried his message on horseback from the Holy Land to Times Square and was invited to the White House to meet the president. Otero Arts Puppet Show, Authors Lecture and More, Childrens Art Exhibition Opening Night Otero Arts. Some have. With the pickup still running, the state cop walks back to his patrol car and notes to his partner.. 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. The allegations against CPAC chief Matt Schlapp. Griffin's term as county commissioner is up this year, and he has said he will not run again. I wasnt involved in anything violent, or disruptive, or disorderly. And he is disillusioned with Trump himself, citing an issue that brings him back to his earliest grievances: forest management. Donnie Reynolds, a 51-year-old sales associate at an Alamogordo hardware store, says Griffin is being targeted for ties to Trump. Brittany Costello: A number of people are facing charges, including you. He had hoped the president would address some problems with the forest near the town of Cloudcroft, which is at risk for fire. Cowboys for Trump co-founder Couy Griffin confronted a trial by jury on Tuesday on charges that he failed to register a political organisation without filing related public financial disclosures. His concern is the direction of this country, where its going.. The countys attorney disagreed, calling the argument highly unlikely.. But she "did not take her minor child to war with her" as Couy Griffin is doing by taking their son to President Donald Trump campaign events during a pandemic, the attorneys said. He said he went to pray and exercise his right to peacefully protest, but he was arrested for his involvement. "It's not like I'm trying to overturn an election that we lost," he said. 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. In what he described as a mission, he traveled on horseback from San Francisco to New York, and then across Europe and the Mediterranean to Jerusalem, arriving in 2008 after more than two years on the road. "Cowboys for Trump" co-founder Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington on June 17, 2022. . Colorado State slices up Lobos; UNM is a 6 seed in league tourney, After bill was vetoed last year, lawmakers try again to boost pay of NM judges, If it MUST be the NIT, UNM basketball has a plan. Griffin has been rebuked by some Republicans over his racial invective. They loved it, Harper said. Couy Griffin's Wife, Children Griffin is currently single, he was previously married to his girlfriend Kourtnie A Gates, but they were divorced in 2019. That is what our motive and our focus has to be. The pastors. SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin confronted a trial by jury Tuesday on charges that he failed to register a political organization without filing related public financial disclosures. 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. Make them go away. , One woman told him she and others in her county were planning to have a days-long outdoor slumber party near her countys one ballot drop-box before the November election to guard it from being stuffed with ballots a fear propagated by the debunked film 2000 Mules.. And I pray to see you on February 28th at the Otero County Courthouse in Alamogordo N.M.Much love in Christ,Couy, According to case documents Griffin launched a GoFundMe account for Cowboys For Trump but used the funds for personal expenses, including court-ordered child support, used public funds to advance C4T and has taken official acts for personal gain.. The case went to federal district court where a judge dismissed Griffin's case where he tried to have the New Mexico Campaign Reporting Act declared unconstitutional. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. 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 . The effort sparked a voter intimidation inquiry by the House Oversight Committee. Griffin and Cowboys for Trump refused to do so and the case went to arbitration. "What I'm trying to do through this audit," he said, "is I'd like to create a blueprint for other counties to be able to follow as well. As CPAC's 2023 edition kicks off, the man who greets the myriad right-wing activists and supporters descending on Maryland . But my hope rests on the law, and the law is available to us all.. Pacing the room at the senior center in Neligh, microphone in hand, Clements put the matter in stark terms. ", Meantime, his barbecue business never succeeded. Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, takes in the view from his ranch in Tularosa, N.M., on Wednesday, May 12, 2021. No fewer than 86 judges rejected at least one post-election lawsuit filed by Trump or his supporters, a Washington Post review of court filings found. 89.9 FM Live From The University Of New Mexico. Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin is confronting a trial by jury on charges that he. Griffin lists himself as manager of Cowboys for Trump. And something happened. The officers call Griffin. Today, Couy Griffin is divorced, disparaged by family and confronts a political recall drive, a state corruption investigation and federal charges. Because what they get away to doing to me will be what they inevitably do to you. 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. Cowboys for Trump, or C4T as it is known colloquially, was ordered by the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office to file as a political action committee and file all campaign finance reports or face fines. Hes dined with Trump and Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow and high-profile election fraud conspiracist. The Oath Keeper. Ah cheer up, Chris - maybe the governor's State Police troopers can catch Couy doing an illegal lane change! Im a child of the trailer park. However, the new evidence . More immediately, Griffin is eyeing an open 2022 sheriffs race in another New Mexico county where he grew up. In all, more than 400 people were charged in the insurrection, which left five dead and dozens of officers injured. The 14th Amendment bars from office anyone who once took an . Trump won there in 2020 with 73% of the vote. WWG1WGA standing in Faith! At times I felt cursed. He has made baldly racist and violent statements. . As news of the attack came, he was in his cabin in the mountains of New Mexico with his wife and three young children. He had a son with her, who currently lives with her. Published: January 6, 2022 - 1:40 PM. Clements won last year. Theyre trying to make it look like I was part of an insurrection in Washington, D.C., and insurrection is a criminal charge, Griffin said Friday in a phone interview. "When they put this thought into people's minds, that somehow our machines are not calculating the votes correctly, then these people will not want to vote.". Whenever you say, China stole the election. "And he kind of laughed and said no. It concluded that if elections continued to be litigated and relitigated, without evidence of fraud, there is a serious threat voters will refuse to accept votes they do not like, and that the, "peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of our democracy, could be at risk.". Griffin recalled. Any further details regarding Kourtnie have not been disclosed yet. See State ex rel. 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.In September 2022, Griffin was removed from office under the Disqualification Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United . Because the rule of law needs to exist.. The New Mexico Supreme Court denied an appeal from former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin in the case that removed him from office based on his actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. He sees. "Ive seen the same videos that you have and there were people who acted extremely foolishly and recklessly and violently, and I dont agree with any of that type of behavior," Griffin said. I take the seatbelts very serious just because the amount of crashes weve both seen.Griffin: What is it? 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. White House official grilled over Biden's summit with Puti Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, US home prices just did something they haven't done since 2012, Celeb-loved jewelry brand Dorsey drops dazzling new styles, White Lotus actor jokes about being hit on following shows success, Is this the couple behind the Worst Art Job Listing Ever?, Undertaker transforms coffin into barbecue grill, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. The trial itself is expected to commence on Tuesday February 28th, 2023 with national media attention. I'm sure the NM State Police will send you a video of the notorious cowboy criminal being cuffed and perp-walked. 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. 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. Thats hard for me to accept.. And if we dont fix our country, I cant go back to that world.. Clements said in a brief interview in Nebraska that he believes his efforts are noble. Mr Griffin appears to be setting the stage of this court case with home court advantage. He appeared first in Torrance County, where he led off comments at a raucous meeting. 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. John Block voted against job creation. A document that David Clements claims shows a failure to update voter check-in machines for 11 years is inaccurate, since the state uses a different check-in system, the secretary of states office said. The ruling comes after lawyers for Griffin's ex-wife, Kourtnie, filed an emergency motion in May to modify their custody and visitation agreement. 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. Couy Griffin back in court over 'Cowboys for Trump' An off-duty sheriff follows reckless driver, shoots $20,000 in mattresses donated to a local non-profit Is it my county commissioners or these people sitting here who had lunch with Donald Trump and the MyPillow guy?, On June 17, the states deadline to certify election results, Clements drove several hundred miles in his old Buick, hoping to stop commissions across New Mexico from approving the votes. He looked back and saw his wife and children standing in the window watching him, weeping. That happened Tuesday in New Mexico when a state judge disqualified Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin from holding public office. 13h Heading to the courthouse to hear the verdict! 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. Email addresses are used solely for verification and to speed the verification process for repeat questioners. My mom worked at Kmart and Lowes, my dad bagged groceries, he said. The process, now underway, faces several challenges. FILE - Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington, June 17, 2022. Officer: Im going to issue a citation for the seatbelt. Feb 27, 2023. 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. EXCLUSIVE: Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil are getting into business with Sony Pictures Entertainment. I am already bracing for a media frenzy during this time because there is so much on the line. 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. Hes also been suspended from Facebook and banished from Native American lands in his district as he contests charges of breaking into the Capitol grounds and disrupting Congress that could carry a one-year sentence. Couy Griffin (via CREW legal filing) Leading First Amendment experts have weighed in on a lawsuit against a New Mexico man convicted in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying that he cannot use the First Amendment as a defense to the constitutional prohibition against insurrectionists holding public office. His words had an impact: In June, officials in three New Mexico counties where he made his case either delayed or voted against certification of this years primary results, even though there was no credible evidence of problems with the vote. So..Griffin: We live in a state thats just so corrupt right now and has so much crime, and theres two of you guys out here driving around citing people for no seatbelts. Just weeks later, in October 2021, he was fired, by his own account, for refusing to wear a mask in class. They are wrong about voting technology, election processes, certification, and legal requirements, Skoglund said. Youre zombies, Pecchia recalled. emergency order from the states Supreme Court. Guitarist Ottmar Liebert bringing his unique blend of music Ottmar Liebert and his band Luna Negra will perform with the New Mexico Philharmonic at Popejoy Hall on Saturday, March 11. The language, known as the disqualification clause, is part of a Civil War-era constitutional amendment intended to bar former Confederates from holding state or federal offices. Banned from Washington until testimony or trial, Griffin has returned to the routines of home in a tidy double-wide trailer in Tularosa, working most days as a stone mason. 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 . Couy Griffin is a white man from Tularosa, Otero County, New Mexico, United States. Their additional three locations remain open. Couy Griffin will be featured on Wikipedia . So whats the solution?. Badou Jack - The best fighter on the Fury-Paul card was Jack, a 39-year-old Swede who has had notable success in three divisions over the past 13-plus years. 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. "But the need for the audit isn't necessarily here in Otero County. Representing the plaintiffs are no fewer than seven attorneys listed in court records. She grew up in the U.K. and has a small jar of Marmite in her kitchen for emergencies.
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