Trump ally barred from holding office for insurrection role
FILE – Otero County, New Mexico Commissioner Couy Griffin speaks to reporters as he arrives at federal court in Washington, Friday, June. 17, 2022. A New Mexico state district court judge has disqualified Griffin from holding public office. State District Court Judge Francis Mathew issued a ruling Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, that permanently prohibits Griffin from holding or seeking local or federal office. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, File)
Testing on staging11
SANTA FE, N.M. (NewsNation) — A New Mexico judge Tuesday disqualified a county commissioner from holding public office for engaging in the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Couy Griffin, also a co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, was previously convicted in federal court of a misdemeanor for entering Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 riot, without going inside the building. He was sentenced to 14 days and given credit for time served.
The new ruling immediately removes Griffin from his position as a commissioner in Otero County in southern New Mexico. He also is barred from serving as a presidential elector.
“Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, bars any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath to support the Constitution of the United States” as an “officer of any State” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists,” said Noah Bookbinder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Griffin, as an Otero County Commissioner since January 2019, took an oath to “support and uphold the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico, and the Constitution of the United States.”
According to Axios reporting, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington helped represent New Mexico residents in the lawsuit against Griffin.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.