First Court To Hold MAGA Insurrectionist Barred From Office By 14th Amendment Disqualification

Axios reports Cowboys for Trump founder barred from public office over Jan. 6:

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.

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 “insurrection after taking his oath,” per the court filing.

• • • “Mr. Griffin aided the insurrection even though he did not personally engage in violence,” State District Judge Francis Mathew said.
    • Mathew also said that Griffin, who serves as Otero County commissioner, “incited, encouraged, and helped normalize the violence on January 6,” citing his participation in chants and filming videos for social media.
    • “By joining the mob and trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds, Mr. Griffin [aided in] delaying Congress’ election-certification proceedings,” the judge said.

The big picture: Griffin was convicted in March for breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to 14 days in jail but given credit for time served.

• • • The NAACP called for Griffin’s removal from public office last month, citing his involvement in the insurrection.
    • The group also alleged that he tried to disenfranchise voters, AP reports.

What they’re saying: “This decision makes clear that any current or former public officials who took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and then participated in the Jan. 6th insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions,” said Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which helped represent New Mexico residents in the lawsuit against Griffin.

Full press release from CREW:

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. This decision marks the first time since 1869 that a court has disqualified a public official under Section 3, and the first time that any court has ruled the events of January 6, 2021 an insurrection.

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. 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.”

“This is a historic win for accountability for the January 6th insurrection and the efforts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in the United States. Protecting American democracy means ensuring those who violate their oaths to the Constitution are held responsible,” said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. “This decision makes clear that any current or former public officials who took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution and then participated in the January 6th insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions.”

Under New Mexico law, any private citizen of the state may file a lawsuit to remove a disqualified county official from office. A group of New Mexico residents were represented in this case by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the New Mexico-based law firms of Freedman Boyd Hollander and Goldberg P.A, Dodd Law Office, LLC, and the Law Office of Amber Fayerberg, LLC, as well as by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

“Judge Mathew’s decision is fully supported by the facts and the law and justice achieves a needed measure of accountability,” said Freedman Boyd Hollander and Goldberg P.A Partner Joe Goldberg.

“The Court’s findings that Mr. Griffin engaged in repeated efforts to mobilize a mob and incite them to violence on January 6, 2021 amply support the Court’s conclusion that he is unqualified under the Fourteenth Amendment to hold public office,” said Daniel Small of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

An eyewitness to Griffin’s behavior testified that Griffin also took on a leadership position within the mob at the Capitol on January 6th. Videos of Griffin’s speeches en route to Washington, DC for the “Stop the Steal“ rally showed Griffin’s willingness to stop, by any means necessary, a Biden presidency. In the days after the attack, Griffin continued to defend the insurrection, boasted about his involvement, and suggested a possible repeat of it in the future. Following a federal indictment for his behavior, he was convicted of breaching and occupying restricted Capitol grounds.

“January 6, 2021 was a dark day in our history. The court’s ruling today is a historic moment for our country. Mr. Griffin’s removal and bar from holding office again is a step towards obtaining justice and restoring the rule of law,” said Dodd Law Office, LLC President Christopher Dodd.

“The Court’s decision to remove and bar Mr. Griffin from public office represents a crucial step toward restoring the rule of law in our country and protecting our democracy from future attack,” said the Law Office of Amber Fayerberg, LLC Founder Amber Fayerberg.

Arizona has two MAGA insurrectionists who aided in the January 6 insurrection, and joined the mob and trespassed on restricted Capitol grounds, aiding in delaying Congress’ election-certification proceedings: Rep. Mark Finchem, the GQP nominee for Secretary of State, Mark Finchem was much closer to the Jan. 6 insurrection than he claimed, and former Rep. Anthony Kern, Where was Anthony Kern on Jan. 6?, who is running for the state Senate in LD 27.

Earlier this year, the MAGA/QAnon Arizona House Ethics Committee, of course, failed to hold Rep. Finchem accountable. Mark Finchem cleared of 82 ethics complaints related to the Jan. 6 riot. It was a cover-up and a continuation of the decades-long GQP culture of corruption in Arizona (IOKIYAR).

Free Speech For People brought a 14th Amendment Section 3 Disqualification claim against Stop The Steal organizers and January 6 Coup Plotters congressmen Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, and state Rep. Mark Finchem earlier this year. The Gov. Ducey-packed Arizona Supreme Court, of course, failed to hold these insurrectionists accountable. Arizona Supreme Court rejects ‘insurrectionist’ ballot challenge to Biggs, Gosar and Finchem. It was a cover-up and a continuation of the decades-long GQP culture of corruption in Arizona (IOKIYAR).

Congressmen Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar are not off the hook. The January 6 Committee and the Department of Justice are both still investigating, and Congress could disqualify them from office by an act of Congress.

It is up to you, the voters of Arizona, to reject Mark Finchem and Anthony Kern, as well as all four GQP House members who voted not to certify the 2020 election – Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, Debbie Lesko and David Schweikert – for providing aid and confort to the MAGA/QAnon violent insurrectionists who stormed the nation’s Capitol on Janury 6, 2021. The voters can overcome the GQP culture of corruption in Arizona.

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