Another Donald Trump ally bites the dust
Cowboys for Trump founder and raving conspiracy theorist Couy Griffin is scratching his head. He remembers having just seen the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rule that Trump can stay on the ballot despite his starring role in the January 6 insurrection. So, Griffin thought, the Court would think that his removal as a New Mexico county commissioner for having participated in that same insurrection is unconstitutional.
In 2022, a state judge ruled that Griffin’s participation in the Capitol attack was a violation of his oath, disqualifying him from office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Griffin had already been convicted of trespassing at the Capitol and was sentenced to 14 days in jail followed by a year of supervised release, a $3,000 fine, and 60 hours of community service.
Although Griffin made similar arguments as Trump did, the Supreme Court has now declined to hear Griffin’s appeal. In its earlier decision about Trump on March 4, the Court wrote that “states have no power under the Constitution to enforce Section 3 with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.” The prior sentence, however, describes Griffin’s situation: “We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office.”
Griffin isn’t running for President of the United States or any other federal office, and so the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear his appeal is consistent with its ruling allowing Trump on the ballot. Griffin’s inability to hold a state or local office in New Mexico does not spark the concern the Court had about states creating a patchwork of restrictions across the country for federal elections.
In an X post on Monday, Griffin suggests he would be happy to be Trump’s running mate, after displaying a gross misunderstanding of the Supreme Court’s action against him. This is the same person who complained at a QAnon conference a few years ago that under Trump, “the only ones that were locked up were men like me and others like me that had stood by the President the strongest.” Spoiler alert: Griffin won’t be anyone’s running mate anytime soon.
Ron Leshnower is a lawyer and the author of several books, including President Trump’s Month