WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a former 
New Mexico county commissioner who was kicked out of office over his participation in 
the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Former Otero County commissioner Couy Griffin, a cowboy pastor who rode to national 
political fame by embracing then-President Donald Trump with a series of horseback 
caravans, is the only elected official thus far to be banned from office in connection 
with the Capitol attack, which disrupted Congress as it was trying to certify 
Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory over Trump.

At a 2022 trial in state district court, Griffin received the first disqualification 
from office in over a century under a provision of the 14th Amendment written to 
prevent former Confederates from serving in government after the Civil War.