WASHINGTON — Joey Griffin is an ardent supporter of Donald Trump, but he has an extra reason to hope the Supreme Court rules that the former president can remain on the ballot in Colorado — a decision that could benefit him, too.
Griffin, the founder of Cowboys for Trump, was indicted for his involvement in the events that led to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 and was eventually fired as a county commissioner in New Mexico. .
He has his own appeal pending at the Supreme Court, which raises similar questions to the one Trump argued last week.
Griffin was removed from elected office based on the same theory that Colorado officials invoked to prevent Trump from appearing on the ballot: the section of the 14th amendment that says “those engaged in sedition” cannot hold office.
Based on oral arguments last week, it appears the Supreme Court will Rule for Trump in his case. The Supreme Court’s reasoning can then be applied in Griffin’s case.
Griffin said in an interview that he listened to some of the arguments and was satisfied with the judges’ questions.
“President Trump is at the top and I’m at the bottom, but a lot of what they’re trying to do with Trump has already come after me. I’ve been kind of a testing ground for ‘legitimate’ things.”
A discussion of the judges is planned Griffin’s work One-on-one for the first time in their regular private conferences on Friday.
State judge He took out Griffin September 2022 as a commissioner in Otero County, NM after his actions on January 6th made him unfit to serve.
It was Griffin earlier that year has been convicted He was acquitted of disorderly conduct during chaotic scenes in which Trump supporters tried to prevent Congress from confirming President Joe Biden’s victory, but was charged with trespassing on Capitol grounds.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, enacted after the Civil War, prevents anyone previously sworn to defend the Constitution from holding various public offices. This was enacted to prevent ex-Confederates from returning to government, but was rarely enforced.
In Trump’s case, the questions asked by the justices indicated that the court could only decide whether Congress could invoke Section 3 against a presidential candidate.
Donald Sherman, a lawyer at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog group representing plaintiffs in both the Trump and Griffin cases, said that even if the Supreme Court ruled in Trump’s favor, Griffin would lose.
That’s partly because of technical legal problems with how Griffin’s case will be litigated, but also because Trump’s decision could only target federal offices, not states.
At Trump’s oral argument, the justices “raised questions about states applying Section 3 against those seeking national office, but expressed no concern about state enforcement against public officials,” Sherman wrote in an email.
Griffin’s attorney, Peter Ticktin, said the New Mexico court’s ruling made no distinction between federal and state office, meaning Griffin could not hold any public office.
“He can’t even run for dog catcher,” he said.
Vikram Amar, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law, briefed Trump in the case that Section 3 should not be enforced by Congress, saying the decision could distinguish between the presidency and other offices, but it does. the discrimination would be “court-made.”
If the court rejects the argument that Section 3 is self-executing, he said, “I guess you can make up whatever you want,” which could mean Griffin loses.
Griffin, who planned at a moment’s notice to ride He resigned before his trial in Washington, saying the entire impeachment process was unfair.
“It’s amazing. We live in a country where the headline is ‘democracy under attack’ and they use civil litigation to remove an elected official.”
Even if Griffin wins his case, he doesn’t plan to return to elected office. He hopes that Trump will win the presidential election and appoint him to a position in the federal government.
One potential problem with this plan: Section 3 also applies to assigned duties.