Cowboys for Trump appeal federal judge decision in Secretary of State case

Cowboys for Trump appealed a December 2020 decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Fouratt which denied the group's efforts to block or avoid the financial disclosure requirements it was ordered by a lower court to fulfill.

The initial federal court case filed by Cowboys for Trump and its founder Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin against Toulouse Oliver's office disputed claims Cowboys for Trump should be classified as a political action committee.

The appeal was filed in the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals which covers Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. The original decision on the case made by Cowboys for Trump against New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver followed a fraught battle, the organization's founder Couy Griffin, said was a political move to harass his organization and its donors.

More:Court asked to enforce ruling making Cowboys For Trump a political action committee

In July 2020 Griffin and Cowboys For Trump lost an arbitration on the matter in New Mexico's District Court. The arbitrator, chosen by Cowboys for Trump, ordered the organization to comply with requests from the Secretary of State's Office to register as a political action committee. 

Cowboys for Trump was also ordered to file all outstanding campaign finance reports and pay $7,800 in fines.

"I didn't really expect much less coming out of the state. That's why we've got this federal motion filed. We're going to federal court now and the federal court will give us the true verdict," Griffin said in response to the outcome of arbitration in July 2020.

More:Arbitrator sides with secretary of state in Cowboys for Trump case

But Griffin's predictions were dashed when Fouratt dismissed the case, leading to the appeal in federal court which also followed an effort by Toulouse Oliver to have the arbitration order enforced.

Her office filed a case in the New Mexico First Judicial District Court against Cowboys for Trump on Feb. 2.

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"We're going forward with our District Court case seeking enforcement of the arbitration order that was granted last year," New Mexico Secretary of State spokesman Alex Curtas said.

"Cowboys for Trump, like any other political entity, cannot operate off the grid and is not exempted from following New Mexico's financial disclosure laws."

No court dates have been set in either the appealed federal case or in the state district court case.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.