John Block voted against job creation. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area. Still, loyal constituents are easy to come by in a rural county steeped in the anti-establishment, pro-gun culture that dominates southern New Mexico. 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. "Cowboys for Trump" co-founder Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington on June 17, 2022. . Later, he served as the vice chair for legal affairs of the states Libertarian party. Weve never experienced a national coup, he told the crowd, standing before red, white and blue signs strung up alongside a bingo board. His rides with Cowboys for Trump through numerous states were a reprise of proselytizing trips he made from Ireland to Jerusalem, before social media, to hand out the Gospel of John. Couy Griffin 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. We've received your submission. But much of that I believe will depend on how much support we can build during this time and nothing can replace individual Americans showing up physically and standing alongside one another.. "Due to the effects of the Mexican spotted owl, our access to timber on the federal lands was restricted," he said. , 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. Ct. Sept. 6, 2022) [hereinafter Griffin . Griffin has claimed he did not knowingly trespass. Holmes said this is baseless and runs the risk of eroding trust in democratic systems. He takes things and extrapolates them to a place that comes completely out of thin air. 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. Cell phone video captured the violence and chaos of that day. He saw the sawmill's work as "curating" the forest. Both are extremely concerning and truly terrifying to say the least.. Gun safe storage bill inches closer to governor's desk Republicans express concern over high-profile measure Republicans express concern over high-profile measure during Fridays two-hour debate. Where I need peoples support is to show up and stand shoulder to shoulder in Alamogordo for this trial. In his disciplinary hearing, which Clements posted online, the university said he violated the schools covid-19 mask and vaccination policy. 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. Its like hes been radicalized somehow. 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. 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. 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. ", Meantime, his barbecue business never succeeded. Griffin is scheduled on Monday and Tuesday for a trial without a jury before 1st Judicial District Judge Francis Mathew in Santa Fe. While he did face criticism, including from fellow Republicans, in the aftermath of the events at the Capitol, Griffin survived an effort to recall him from his position, when a petition did not garner enough signatures. The U.S. intelligence community has continued to warn that foreign actors are probably targeting American elections. Griffin lost that case but still appears to have failed to follow the court order. "But the need for the audit isn't necessarily here in Otero County. The ruling comes after lawyers for Griffin's ex-wife, Kourtnie, filed an emergency motion in May to modify their custody and visitation agreement. Hes dined with Trump and Mike Lindell, the chief executive of MyPillow and high-profile election fraud conspiracist. And something happened. 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. 0:00. Because I want to make sure our voices are accurately captured. Thats the battle. As per edailybuzz, Couy Griffin is married to his wife, Kourtnie A Gates. 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. 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. 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 . My heart filled and I heard, We are going to win. . This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A New Mexico judge has removed a county commissioner from office and disqualified him from running for future office in response to his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot . EXCLUSIVE: Blake Griffin and Ryan Kalil are getting into business with Sony Pictures Entertainment. Colorado State slices up Lobos; UNM is a 6 To say that defense was optional would imply is was a choice. Pacing the room at the senior center in Neligh, microphone in hand, Clements put the matter in stark terms. But his allegiance to Trump has wavered. Why? he asked. "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.". 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 . Email addresses are used solely for verification and to speed the verification process for repeat questioners. Couy Griffin, of New Mexico, was arrested today in Washington, D.C., and charged by criminal complaint with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry. New Mexico and ABQ News, Sports, Business and more, By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer Weve figured out how theyre screwing you out of your vote, Clements said. "Never have. Griffin lists himself as manager of Cowboys for Trump. The process, now underway, faces several challenges. 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. By MORGAN LEE February 28, 2023. 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. The 14th Amendment bars from office anyone who once took an . 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. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said dozens of people have complained about volunteers associated with the audit going door-to-door and asking residents about their vote. 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. He said he began examining the alleged evidence of fraud in contested states like Georgia and Pennsylvania in the days following the election, and later had some of those who claimed to have observed it firsthand appear on his YouTube videos. 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 . But the project seems confusing at first glance, given that Trump won in Otero County. 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. Couy Griffin was founder of a group called Cowboys for Trump and a member of the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. 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. Otero Arts Puppet Show, Authors Lecture and More, Childrens Art Exhibition Opening Night Otero Arts. In Alamogordo, Griffins rhetoric on race has steeled the determination of opponents who want him out of office. Griffin still wears a monogrammed Cowboys for Trump shirt to commission meetings. A year later, he still believes the election was tampered with. 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. "There's no absolutely no reason for this," she said. Griffin said hes been offered two plea deals, which he has turned down. Griffin and Cowboys for Trump refused to do so and the case went to arbitration. 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. FILE - Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington, June 17, 2022. The officers call Griffin. Early in his life, he struggled with drugs, alcohol and an assault conviction, he has said. He has made baldly racist and violent statements. David and Erin Clements claimed that the states voting tabulators are insecure and miscount votes. It makes me sick whenever I watch it.". Cowboys for Trump founder Couy Griffin will face off in court Monday against three New Mexicans who argue in a lawsuit that he should be removed from his post as an Otero County commissioner for participating in an insurrection against the United States. Clements said in a brief interview in Nebraska that he believes his efforts are noble. Pecchia said his respect for Clements evaporated one day when he saw his former teacher leading an anti-mask march through a craft market where Pecchia sold his woodworking, causing a disturbance. "I wanted to go from just being a voice to having a vote.". At the June hearing in Otero, David and Erin Clements turned up to a crowded meeting room to give the commission a nearly three-hour update on their findings. The couples conclusions prompted Griffin to chastise his own clerk, Robyn Holmes, a Republican who has 30 years of experience running elections in the county. 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. A New Mexico county commissioner who heads Cowboys for Trump was arrested Sunday in Washington, D.C., by Capitol Police after vowing to bring back his guns for Inauguration Day. All they need to do to change the system, he assured them, is to win over a handful of commission votes. "It's been such a battle," he said. Holmes has grown so disheartened by the couples oft-repeated allegations that she has stopped coming to meetings unless asked for. Clements, who was born in Seattle, grew up the child of itinerant parents who worked blue-collar jobs. WWG1WGA standing in Faith! Id see other happy families on vacation while I would bus their tables as an underage kid and say, is this it, Lord? , But, he said he realized, God was preparing me for something, to see artifice, to see lies.. He perpetuates the former president's false claim that the 2020 elections were fraudulent. 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. 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? The motion said Couy Griffin "has. His grandfather Wee Griffin held the Catron County post from 1963 to 1966. Ah cheer up, Chris - maybe the governor's State Police troopers can catch Couy doing an illegal lane change! Thank you so much for your time and consideration. You think that the governor hates me as a county commissioner put a gun and a badge on me, and well see.. The first-term state representative and former Albuquerque middle school math teacher grew up in Chihuahua and has an engineering degree. I dont have the money to go up against those kind of people, Griffin said Friday. In Washington, prosecutors unveiled photographs of Griffin climbing a toppled fence and another barrier to access the Capitol steps. 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. Officer: Yep, still wasnt wearing his seatbelt. 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. For now, Griffin has halted the petition with an appeal to the state Supreme Court, which hasnt decided whether to intervene. Dont forget to wear your seatbelt. 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. SANTA FE, N.M. - A New Mexico state district court judge has disqualified county commissioner and Cowboys for Trump co- founder Couy Griffin from holding public office for engaging . White v. Griffin, No. Griffin has acknowledged using the county building for promotional videos but said he never claimed they were affiliated with Otero County. This could either be the final nail in my coffin or this could be a true day of reckoning. "I do believe our elections were stolen," he said. Magda Jean-Louis and Alice Crites contributed to this report. Do you regret anything that happened? Neither, however, has experience running elections or formal education in voting machine systems. The audit later fell apart, with the firm hired to analyze the results agreeing to return part of its initial payment, stipulating they had found no evidence of fraud. Griffin took the oath of office in December 2018 when he was sworn in as a commissioner. The arbitrator, who was chosen by Griffin and Cowboys for Trump, found for the Secretary of State's Office. 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. Here you have Couy Griffin as Cowboys For Trump not only hiding assets from his ex-wife and son. Republican primary candidates embracing Trumps stolen election rhetoric have flourished this year. The claim that the volunteer canvassers found dozens of ghost voters at one address turned out to reference the Post Office box at a nearby military base. But my hope rests on the law, and the law is available to us all.. He also says Cowboys for Trump is a for-profit company, not a political group. Yeah. ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (KRQE) New video shows former County Commissioner Couy Griffin getting pulled over and getting into it with police officers. A Donald Trump supporter, Griffin founded Cowboys for Trump and listed his sister Kay Griffin as its organizer. This is yet another example of how lies about Dominion have damaged our company and diminished the publics faith in elections, Dominion spokeswoman Stephanie Walstrom said of Clements. 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. Griffin went to court over the seatbelt ticket where he was ordered to pay the $81 fine. 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. You can play on an old beat-out dirt lot.. 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. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican we should all want to make sure our elections are secure.. New Mexicos secretary of state has also rejected the allegations. Get some lunch?Griffin: Im headed to get my truck washed. He is awaiting trial. 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. 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. Couy Griffin Wife, Children Griffin is currently single, he was previously married to his girlfriend Kourtnie A Gates, but they were divorced in 2019. 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. They loved it, Harper 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. 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. Couy Griffin has been barred from in-person visits with his son due to social media posts that have produced threats and for refusing to comply with the requirements of the COVID-19 mask. Thats what we need, Clements told an audience at a New Mexico church in February. 1:07. He sees. Donnie Reynolds, a 51-year-old sales associate at an Alamogordo hardware store, says Griffin is being targeted for ties to Trump. Cowboys for Trump still owes the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office $7,800 in fines. He continued per the sent email; I believe another motivation for this charge is that by forcing me to register as a c-corp or non-profit it will force me to disclose all financials to the state and by doing that they will be able to unmask any past supporters of Cowboys for Trump to only destroy them with the same vindictiveness that they have come at me with. 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. 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. Its been real hard.. Sicknick, a Capitol police. 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. 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. "And it forced us to go out of business and it's been something that I've never forgotten because it was so unfair and unjust.". The decision was made . ", Griffin and his two fellow commissioners voted to conduct the audit despite concerns about its legality noted by County Attorney R.B.