It seems like this could be a big Joe Biden Deal, unless it gets reversed in the higher courts.
Thank you, New Mexico!
Potentially huge result. Not for the specific removal but for the establishment of a precedent (if it holds up) that 14th Am §3 actually can be enforced and how (in this case, through a single judge assessing "qualifications" to be on the ballot. Congrats to @CREWcrew https://t.co/YI1wdbp8DH
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) June 16, 2023
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.
Come on, 14th Amendment! You can do this!
Also, I am hoping the attorneys here can explain more what this is about.
NEW: Special Counsel Jack Smith seeks to limit disclosure of discovery related to classified docs case.
Among the reasons:
The materials “include information pertaining to ongoing investigations… which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.” pic.twitter.com/XC5TQRTqhh
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) June 16, 2023
I DO like the sound of “ongoing investigations” and “uncharged individuals”!
Open thread.
lollipopguild
If the 14th ruling holds up in court, I am sure it will be appealed, then HOLY CRAP!
Parfigliano
From NM. You are welcome.
Scout211
More good news, this one from the Iowa Supreme Court.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I thought we’d already heard months ago of someone being removed from office on these grounds. Or was that another 19th century law? Or was that this guy, but he fought it and this was the end of the process?
Ukai
Not unwelcome information, but original tweet from CREW is from last September.
Shalimar
Translation of the Smith motion: Please order in advance that opposing lawyers and their ignoramus client will be sanctioned if any of the confidential discovery material finds it’s way into the press or onto Truth Social.
It’s a standard motion, nothing special.
Baud
Great news all around.
Scout211
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: @Ukai: Yes, September 2022 was when Couy Griffin was removed from office in NM. The tweet from today is making a suggestion that the law could apply to TFG, I think.
kalakal
I’m sure there are several members of congress to whom this could be applicable.
Mustn’t get my hopes up but…
Scout211
And in other good news: The College Board and the APA are fighting back against the Florida Man. Link
trollhattan
Hope my family never nails me with the Disqualification Clause, especially with Father’s Day coming up and all.
piratedan
@kalakal: agreed, if this interpretation of the 14th holds, it should imply that any citizen, should they choose to do so, could lay charges about fitness to serve should proof exist of their participation. The repercussions if proven would not only remove these asshats from office, it keeps them from ever holding public office again.
Ryan
So, ongoing investigations. Are we talking Bedminster here?
Ryan
@Scout211: Let them fight. Honestly, I took AP courses, the credit didn’t do anything for me in college. All I got was a better high school experience, which is fine, but not worth the $75 per exam.
dexwood
Old news, but this old New Mexican says you’re welcome.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
Hahaha!
mrmoshpotato
@dexwood: Obligatory
dexwood
@dexwood:
Never fails to make me chuckle.
Eta: weird, was sure I replied to you Mr M.
mrmoshpotato
@dexwood: Haha! Weird. Mr. Burns’ “Neeew Mexico?” makes me laugh every time.
O. Felix Culpa
@dexwood:
As does this old New Mexican.
Speaking of the classics, the state is neither “new” nor ‘Mexico.”
JWR
From NBC:
TV news had videos of a gathering of these religious nutballs holding some sort of pagan prayer service in the Dodger Stadium parking lot
ETA RIP Daniel Ellsberg. :(
UncleEbeneezer
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
👍
Gvg
@Ryan: In Florida, the state funds the AP exam cost to public school districts for AP. It’s been going on for a long long time. I had forgot it used to have to be paid for. I don’t think DeSantis and the legislature actually know that so I hope no one tells them. Of course if he tries to take it away, the outrage will be deafening. The students who take a lot of AP courses tend to have upper middle class or wealthy parents who are trying to get into the better schools and get the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship. You wouldn’t think it would matter to them, but they really care about that. Some of the poor students benefit too, but that scholarship was about stopping a brain drain to the ivys and other out of state schools. Politically it could be worse than attacking Disney but more a local issue.
Still I’d rather not point it out to him.
dexwood
@O. Felix Culpa:
True story. I moved here in 1974 when I was 22. When I told my mother what I was about to do she said, “why, isn’t our country good enough for you?” New Mexico magazine used to have a regular feature called One Of Our Fifty Is Missing. Her question could have been one of the stories.
O. Felix Culpa
@dexwood:
Lol. I’ve heard of people traveling to NM being asked for passports on US domestic flights. Hasn’t happened to me yet though.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
Here’s Michael Popok’s commentary on Jack Smith’s motion for protection of the discovery documents. He says it’s a standard thing, and the defense has already agreed to it so it should be a no-brainer.
He also hypothesizes that DOJ is going to be using motions partly to see whether judge Cannon (I don’t think she rates an uppercase “J”) makes a sufficiently stupid ruling to allow them to move for recusal, or even to tempt her into doing so.
TFG is allowed to see the discovery material, which includes the names of witnesses who have not been named in public, but he can only do so in the presence of his defense lawyers, and any notes on that material will also be kept under lock and key. You know, the way sensitive information is actually supposed to be handled.
He’s not allowed to talk or hint about it in public. I can’t see him abiding by those rules. I predict there will be retaliation against some named witness within 24 hours of TFG seeing the name.
Sanjeevs
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/16/fox-news-wannabe-dictator-producer-alexander-mccaskill
WaterGirl
@Sanjeevs: What a fucking pig he is. They must have wanted to get rid of him because of the lawsuit, and seized this excuse.
terraformer
@kalakal:
indeed. i mean, is it *really* an amendment if it’s not enforced? glad to see someone else is doing this.
lots of Republican MoC were directly involved in J6; we shouldn’t have to *hope* that someone, anyone will do something about it
Ken
What happens then? Please say “house arrest”. “Gag order with a real gag and duct tape” would also be acceptable.
Rand Careaga
Of course, some future SCOTUS could agree with a Federalist Society argument that membership in or affiliation with the Democratic Party itself constitutes “engag[ing] in insurrection or rebellion”—after all, in 2018 TFG called out Congressional Democrats who failed to stand or applaud for him at that year’s State of the Union act as “un-American” and “treasonous.”
Think the very notion is preposterous? Who would have imagined in 1989 that two years later the Soviet Union (or rather Russia, its principal component) would outlaw its own Communist party? These people are going for the gold.
bbleh
@Parfigliano: well SOMEBODY’s gotta step in …
AM in NC
@Ryan: For me, APs let me graduate in 3.5 years, rather than 4. Plus a better HS experience. Hate that the $ goes to a private company, though. The older I get, the more services I think should be publicly owned and run.
lee
Decades ago the Governor of NM told a story about going to a play in New York. Some how it got out that they were the Gov of NM and were seated in the ‘foreign diplomat’ section (right up front). He decided not to correct them.
Chief Oshkosh
@kalakal: Who would be the entity that brings that to court? From the CREW statement, this occurred in NM because an NM law provides that “…any private citizen of the state may file a lawsuit to remove a disqualified county official from office.”
What are the options for doing this to statewide or federal elected officials?
Chief Oshkosh
@Sanjeevs: Reminds me of Mustard Master Cole’s FPP recently: Why do these people choose to be such utter shitheels? Christ dancing on a pingpong table, they could do anything else with their lives and they and the world would be better off. But no, they have to live their worst lives.
Ella in New Mexico
@O. Felix Culpa: Yep. He’s toast politically.
And yet I don’t think we’ve heard the last of Good Time Griftin’ Couy. Loves the attention too much.
Wasn’t there something in the news about him assaulting one of his tenants the other day?
TaxesMyCredulity
See Marcy Wheeler at Emptywheel for the nuts, bolt, and best analyses of documents and filings in TFG’s legal battles. Today’s post deals with the new motion and the “ongoing cases,” i.e., grand juries in DC and, perhaps, NJ. https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/06/17/filling-the-gaps-place-and-payments/
The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion
@Ryan: Yeah, no we get that erasing lgbtq+ people from history and psychology and public consciousness means almost nothing compared to the fact that you spent hundreds on a class that didn’t help you. The National Socialists picked the same population for their first political persecution, and a candidate for the US presidency is following in their footsteps, but you lost money that one time, so “let them fight.” Thanks for putting that in perspective for us all.