Cowboy politician 2nd person to go on trial in Jan. 6 riot
By MORGAN LEE and JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An elected New Mexico official who helped found the group Cowboys for Trump faces trial next week on misdemeanor charges for being on restricted grounds at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot. He plans to arrive at his trial in Washington on horseback. The strategy being used to defend Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin is just as unorthodox. His attorneys conceded Griffin entered a barricaded area to reach an outdoor balcony of the Capitol. But they have demanded prosecutors provide first-hand evidence that then-Vice President Mike Pence was still at the Capitol — a prerequisite for the Secret Service to invoke access restrictions.