Couy Griffin still in the saddle
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Couy Griffin, momentarily humbled by his latest court setbacks, is back on his horse. Buoyed by $10,000 in donations, he’s bobbed to the surface again as the not-so-humble leader of Cowboys for Trump.
Ever since he rode into the limelight in 2019 as a co-founder of C4T, Griffin has shown a knack for getting attention. He loves the camera even more than his horse, and the camera returns his affection. We’ve seen him riding down 5th Avenue in New York City, posing with President Trump in the Oval Office, and climbing over barricades to get into the nation’s capitol to cheer on the Jan. 6 riot.
Through it all, I’ve wondered: Does Griffin have a day job? Apparently not, which explains a lot of things.
The world knows by now that a state District Court judge recently removed Griffin as Otero County Commissioner, citing the 14th Amendment, which forbids anyone who has sworn to support the Constitution from holding state or federal elected office, now or ever, if they have engaged in insurrection. Griffin’s federal conviction for participating in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, qualifies, the judge said. He became the first elected official to be unseated in connection with the Jan. 6 attacks. Griffin plans to appeal the removal.
If Griffin, 48, had a resume it would look pretty thin: five years’ work for a wild west show in Paris, a year as pastor of the New Heart Church in Alamogordo, and a brief stint running a barbecue restaurant in Alamogordo.
Cowboys for Trump has been Griffin’s job since 2019 when he organized some fellow rodeo cowboys to join his organization. Griffin’s made public appearances with others on horseback in support of Trump’s positions on abortion, guns and the border. He also made so many inflammatory statements that I can’t repeat them all in this space, but he started in April 2020 by saying the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat. The day after Jan. 6, he encouraged people to return for the inauguration and posted, “Blood will run from the Capitol.”
Money has been intertwined with controversy for Griffin.
After the Secretary of State said C4T should register as a political committee, Griffin refused because he would have to disclose contributions and spending. That triggered an Attorney General’s investigation, which found that a C4T GoFundMe account raised at least $30,000 and that Griffin spent money for personal use, including court-ordered child support. He used county money to benefit C4T, the AG said.
Griffin sued the Secretary of State in 2020 but lost this year in federal appeals court. In March the state Attorney General charged Griffin with a misdemeanor campaign violation for refusing to register and said “no elected official is above the law.” Griffin said he would appeal.
During a meeting of the Otero County Commission last summer, Griffin asked the county to pay for his legal defense related to the Jan. 6 riot. The answer was no.
He has said that all but one member of Cowboys for Trump drifted away after the Jan. 6 riots. His political life, he told KUNM, has "cost (him) everything, from a marriage, to finances, to friends."
During a county commission meeting, which he attended as a citizen, he described how difficult it was for him to vacate his office under the gaze of an undersheriff. “Humility, brother,” he told Source New Mexico. “I know that sometimes you travel down a hard road to get to a better road, but God’s a gracious God, and I think he’s got me on that track.”
Lately, championed by right-wing activists, Griffin made his case on the podcast of election denier Joe Oltmann who steered listeners to a crowdfunding page for Griffin’s appeal. Bingo! $10,000.
He’s back in business and back to his old self. This cowboy will not yet ride into the sunset.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Couy Griffin still in the saddle
