‘Cowboys for Trump’ founder who refused to certify election results sentenced for joining Capitol riots

A New Mexico county official has been sentenced for his refusal to certify recent election results on bogus conspiracy theories about voting machines for his role in the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Couy Griffin – founder of “Cowboys for Trump” – was sentenced on June 17 to 14 days in prison, including time already served, and was fined $3,000 with one year of supervised release and 60 hours of community service.

He was convicted earlier this year on misdemeanor charges of entering a restricted area but was acquitted of disorderly conduct. Video footage of him during the riots saying “Mike Pence was in our prayers” and expressing hope that the vice president overseeing the joint session of Congress to certify the result of the 2020 presidential election would “do the right thing” and reject results that reflect the votes of millions of Americans.

Griffin is alleged to have climbed a demolished fence and another barrier to reach the steps of the Capitol stairs and used a bugle to call the mob to prayer. He reportedly did not enter the building or participate in the violence.

Federal prosecutors recommended a sentence of at least three months in prison; He faced a maximum sentence of one year.

His verdict came when Griffin and the Republican-controlled Otero County Committee for which he serves faced a deadline to certify the results of the local primaries as of June 7, which he refused to do.

Griffin repeated unfounded claims about Dominion’s voting machines, which have been central to false challenges from GOP officials who sought to litigate the results of the 2020 election in states lost by Trump.

The state Supreme Court ordered the committee to certify the results no later than Friday, and the state attorney general’s office also threatened legal action if it did not comply.

The committee eventually voted two to one to approve the results on Friday, with Griffin keeping the “No” vote.

He said, “My vote to stay no is not based on any evidence, not based on any facts, just my gut feeling and my own intuition, and that’s all I need.” Washington Post.

Griffin’s challenge has alarmed voting rights advocates who have repeatedly warned that growing distrust of the election among Republican officials — a revival of Trump’s persistent lie that the 2020 election was marred by fraud, despite the lack of evidence — is intended to erode public confidence in the electoral process in order. To legitimize anti-democratic takeovers of the electoral administration.

A statement from a Dominion spokesperson this week said the Otero County controversy “is another example of how falsehoods about Dominion have damaged our company and undermined public confidence in elections.”

The former president endorsed a list of election fraud conspiracy theorists running for office across the United States in an effort to do in the state capitol and in Congress what his allies failed to do in court.

A review of the primaries in Washington Post It found at least 149 candidates for state and congressional office who reiterated the former president’s allegations or campaigned on platforms promoting “election integrity” and restoring the “voter trust” that Trump himself had undermined, expanding a national strategy in state legislatures dominated by the party. Republican to restrict access to ballot papers and roll back voting rights.

The winning candidates have been determined by Washington Post As adopting Mr Trump’s claims has cast doubt on Joe Biden’s victory, supported post-election “audits” by partisan leadership in states Biden won, signed a lawsuit to nullify the results, downplayed the importance of or sought to change the narrative January 6 attack.

After the riots, Griffin posted on social media that he was considering holding a gun rights rally on the steps of the Capitol, adding that there would be “blood running out of that building.”

“I’ve seen the evidence here,” U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden told Griffin on Friday. “You climbed over walls… you knew you didn’t have to be there.”

Judge McFadden stressed that Griffin was not punished for allegations of election fraud but added that similar claims from other Republican officials were “as wrong as you.”

More than 800 people have been charged with federal charges related to the attack. More than 300 defendants pleaded guilty and nearly 200 defendants were sentenced. Others are awaiting trial later this year and in 2023.

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