GOP Michigan rep accused of chasing an exotic dancer while brandishing a gun
Republican state Rep. Neil Friske has not been formally charged
A Michigan state representative may face felony-level sexual assault and weapons charges after allegedly sexually assaulting an exotic dancer and then chasing her while brandishing a gun.
Republican state Rep. Neil Friske, 62, was released from the Lansing police lockup late Friday morning, The Detroit Free Press reported.
Friske allegedly "chased an adult dancer after a disagreement," MIRS News reported, after police responded to reports of possible shots fired around 2:45 a.m. on Thursday.
He was arrested on Windbreak Lane near a condo he owns in Lansing. The dancer reportedly works or worked at the nearby Deja Vu Showgirls strip club, according to the outlet, which is the closest such club.
"We’re just saying no comment at this time," the establishment told The New York Post.
On the scene, law enforcement learned of a "possible sexual assault of an adult female," the office of Ingham County prosecutor John Dewane told the Free Press.
Friske declined to comment as he left the Lansing police station on Friday, but his attorney Edwar Zeineh told the Free Press that "this is a case that is getting our full attention to show actual innocence."
Records obtained Friday by the Free Press through the Michigan State Police criminal background service show that the Lansing department requested felony charges of sexual assault, assault and a weapons-related offense against the lawmaker.
But Friske has not yet been charged or arraigned, and it is unclear whether those are the charges he will face.
Dewane's office wrote in a Friday press release that it has requested the department continue its investigation, and that prosecutors are coordinating with law enforcement on the matter.
Zeineh said his office will also be conducting a "very thorough investigation" and will provide its findings to the Ingham prosecutors so that officials can "make a very informed decision."
In a statement released on Facebook, Friske's campaign wrote that the arrest was "highly suspect" considering that it took place "right before absentee ballots are released" and "a day after an unknown phone number conducted polling on the 107 race between Rep. Friske and our opponent with deep-state ties."
"Rep. Friske is always exercising his 2nd Amendment right," the campaign wrote. "We do not have any details beside what the media sourced, oddly before anyone of us knew anything."
Friske faces a primary election challenge against Parker Fairbairn of Harbor Springs on Aug. 6, The Detroit News reported. The winner of the primary will be likely to win the general election in the Republican stronghold, which includes Charlevoix and Emmet counties and parts of Mackinac and Chippewa counties.
In a statement, Fairbairn said that despite his "abysmal and immoral voting record," Friske is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
"He voted against protecting spouses from marital rape, voted against making child marriage illegal, voted against tax cuts for veterans — and just this past week, he voted against making it illegal to create AI 'deep fake' pornography using the likeness of our daughters and wives," Fairbairn wrote in his statement. "Neil deserves his time in court, and the people of the 107th District deserve better than Neil."
Friske, who is seeking his second term in the Michigan House next fall, is considered one of the more conservative members of the Legislature and is part of the House's Freedom Caucus, which describes itself as "focused on traditional conservative values and individual liberty."
After his release from lockup, his campaign wrote in a second Facebook post that they "are confident that he and his legal team will be able to show his innocence against any trumped up charges."
MAGA- they sure know how to pick them......News Flash- If Trump wins, his wife doesn't want to be first lady---surprise, surprise....and one of his potential VP on Face the Nations stated publicly- he lied lots during the debate.....that isn't news, he does it all the time.....DAMN, MAGA- how can the country be this hard up to even consider the criminals and idiots we have...."serving us"....what does that make us......God help us.
"You've never lived till you've almost died, life has a flavor the protected will never know" A vet or cop
Never mind. trump once again is doing the heavy lifting.....
Trump amplifies posts calling for televised military tribunal for Liz Cheney
Former President Donald Trump amplified posts on social media calling for a televised military tribunal for former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and the jailing of top elected officials, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“ELIZABETH LYNNE CHENEY IS GUILTY OF TREASON,” one post created by another user that Trump amplified on his social media website Truth Social on Sunday reads. “RETRUTH IF YOU WANT TELEVISED MILITARY TRIBUNALS.”
Cheney responded on X, “Donald - This is the type of thing that demonstrates yet again that you are not a stable adult—and are not fit for office.”
A separate post Trump amplified on Truth Social Sunday includes photos of 15 former and current elected officials and says, “THEY SHOULD BE GOING TO JAIL ON MONDAY NOT STEVE BANNON!”
In addition to Biden and Harris, the post includes photos of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Mike Pence and members of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
When reached for comment, a Trump campaign spokesperson did not address Trump’s posts but instead pointed to what she described as the January 6 committee’s “political persecution” of the former president.
Trump, who has been convicted of 34 felony counts and faces an additional 54 charges in three other cases, has long suggested he would try to prosecute his political opponents if he’s elected to a second term.
His suggestions of potentially going after political opponents by weaponizing the Justice Department began more than a year ago, when he was first indicted. Trump has said he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family if he wins a second term and has argued several times he believes he is justified in doing so because Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee criminal investigations that implicate Trump.
Rudy Giuliani officially disbarred in New York for Trump election interference efforts
The New York state Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani over his part in Donald Trump’s election interference efforts in 2020.
The long-expected disbarment of Trump’s most high-profile lawyer, which is effective immediately, is a major blow to the former public official at a time he faces fallout for spreading lies about the 2020 election. In addition to losing his law license – which is likely to be recognized across the country – Giuliani is in bankruptcy after landing $150 million in debt for defaming two election workers, and faces several other lawsuits against him as well as criminal charges.
“The seriousness of (Giuliani’s) misconduct cannot be overstated,” the court wrote. “(Giuliani) flagrantly misused his prominent position as the personal attorney for former President Trump and his campaign, through which (he) repeatedly and intentionally made false statements, some of which were perjurious, to the federal court, state lawmakers, the public, the (Attorney Grievance Committee), and this Court concerning the 2020 Presidential election, in which he baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”
Giuliani, the court said, “not only deliberately violated some of the most fundamental tenets of the legal profession, but he also actively contributed to the national strife that has followed the 2020 Presidential election, for which he is entirely unrepentant.”
Giuliani previously was suspended from being able to practice law while the New York court considered attorney discipline proceedings against him. In its ruling, the court cited the former Trump attorney’s efforts to overturn the election results in several 2020 battleground states.
On X, Giuliani said he was “not surprised” by the ruling and blasted what he said was a corrupt system. A spokesman for Giuliani also condemned the disbarment, which had gone through several proceedings before the court’s final decision on Tuesday.
“Members of the legal community who respect the rule of law in this country should immediately come forward and speak out against this politically and ideologically corrupted decision. We will be appealing this objectively flawed decision in hopes that the appellate process will restore integrity into our system of justice,” spokesman Ted Goodman said in a statement.
Giuliani played a key role in several of Trump’s schemes to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was involved in alleged efforts to put forth fake electors to falsely certify Trump victories in several states, such as Arizona and Georgia, and, as the court noted Tuesday, Giuliani “falsely and dishonestly asserted to the public that people were brought from Camden, New Jersey, to vote illegally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the 2020 presidential election.”
In Georgia, Giuliani is charged with a RICO violation as well as several additional felonies, including soliciting Georgia state lawmakers, making false statements to the Georgia House and Senate and working to put forward fake electors in the state. He is one of several co-conspirators indicted in that case, in which Trump also is a defendant.
He is facing charges related to the election subversion efforts in Arizona and is an unindicted co-conspirator in Trump’s federal election subversion case.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
This man should be president if you ask me. That's a picture of him with the people in the military cropped out. He's a pilot who was with AFSOC at one point. Someone with an AFSOC affiliation posing with guns carries a little different weight than Jethro posing with 20 AR-15s.
Dude spent time in the military, has conservative policies, including fiscally, actually spent time guarding the border, but he hates Trump so he has no chance of making it in politics anymore.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Given our choices he would certainly get my vote. I'm not saying I would agree with all of his policies but that holds true no matter who I vote for. At this point anyone who is level headed and not an extremist is far better than any other choice we currently have.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Given our choices he would certainly get my vote. I'm not saying I would agree with all of his policies but that holds true no matter who I vote for. At this point anyone who is level headed and not an extremist is far better than any other choice we currently have.
Same here. He and I disagree on some things, too. It would be nice to scrutinize a candidate for their policies again vs trying to choose a candidate based on doing less damage than the other candidate.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Why can’t republicans capitalize on the momentum they gain?
Why is trump rambling about challenging Biden to golf and Chris Christie’s weight at a rally?
It’s like y’all opponent gives you his stomach for a kill shot, but instead you give him belly rubs.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
This is just a horrible look...sadly not her worst, though, but perhaps it is when it actually comes to legislation. Tell me you don't know the law without telling me you don't know the law, Madam Legislator...
Lauren Boebert is laughed at on the House floor as she’s fact-checked by EPA head Ariana Baio Thu, July 11, 2024 at 8:47 AM PDT·3 min read 751
Firebrand Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert Lauren Boebert was laughed at by the head of the EPA during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday after seemingly misunderstanding a recent Supreme Court’s decision that aims to limit federal agencies’ authority.
Michael Regan, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, gave Boebert a befuddled look when she asked him if the federal agency would continue enabling “rouge bureaucrats to enact unconstitutional regulations” even after the court’s decision that ended the 40-year run of the so-called Chevron standard.
“Do you understand the ruling?” Regan asked the Colorado rep, calling her question “ill-formed.”
Boebert fired back the same question and dug her heels in the sand, asking him which regulations the EPA would “repeal” to adhere to the court’s ruling.
“The Supreme Court didn’t tell us to repeal anything,” Regan said before laughing and shaking his head at the congresswoman.
The recent Supreme Court’s decision in the case overturned the longheld precedent known as the Chevron deference that allowed federal agencies to defer to their own expertise when interpreting ambiguous language.
Now, it is up to the courts or Congress to interpret language during legal challenges.
However, the ruling does not prevent agencies from continuing to issue regulations – something Boebert’s question seemed to imply.
The exchange between Regan and Boebert grew more tense as both sides began talking over each other. Eventually, Boebert pivoted from the Chevron deference to harshly criticizing the EPA. She told Regan she thought EPA funding should be scaled back “100 percent.”
By the end of the back-and-forth, Regan stared at Boebert shaking his head with his mouth a gap.
“It’s just shocking you spent so much time with our regional staff and regional administration and region aid and have such productive conversations about how we’re doing things for your district and your state and then you take this microphone and you pretend that we should not exist,” Regan said.
Regan testified to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday about the Supreme Court’s recent decision, saying he was “disappointed” and concerned about its impact.
He told committee members that the decision could hurt the EPA’s ability to interpret language and implement regulations about climate-related investments – something the Joe Biden administration has prioritized over the last four years.
Shortly after Boebert and Regan’s exchange, New York Representative Daniel Goldman pointedly spelled out the Supreme Court’s hearing for “clarify” purposes.
“The Loper Bright ruling, as you know, said that the courts should not defer to agency rule-making if a statute is ambiguous and instead the courts get to determine what the statute means,” Goldman said.
He added, “So that would not require any regulations to be reversed or overturned.”
Regan agreed with that statement.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
Why can’t republicans capitalize on the momentum they gain?
Why is trump rambling about challenging Biden to golf and Chris Christie’s weight at a rally?
It’s like y’all opponent gives you his stomach for a kill shot, but instead you give him belly rubs.
This is why I’m so mad at dems trying to oust Biden. His corpse coupld be on the ballot and be a better candidate than Trump. People hate change and NEW Politicians.
This is why I’m so mad at dems trying to oust Biden. His corpse coupld be on the ballot and be a better candidate than Trump.
And that too would be no excuse for running someone that can't remember what he had for dinner yesterday. How terrible trump is isn't an excuse not to do better.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
If he were to run a campaign, I'd certainly give him serious consideration. Like you, I'd disagree with some of his policies, but at least I'd be considering someone with ethics, morality sense of civic duty.... and a fully-functioning brain.
People like YOU would just hand democracy over to the fascist. Don’t expect a Xmas card from me.
Yes, that's what my suggestion of running Kamala instead of Joe would do. You mean don't expect a Christmas card from you the same way I've never gotten a Christmas card from you? You're hilarious!
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
This is why I’m so mad at dems trying to oust Biden. His corpse coupld be on the ballot and be a better candidate than Trump. People hate change and NEW Politicians.
You are right on the one hand - a corpse would be better than Trump. What you don't seem to grasp - if Biden runs as is, he is much more likely to lose than having any other Dem run. There's a lot of people in the cult of Trump that will vote Trump no matter what. There's a lot of R's that will vote R just because they couldn't vote for anything else no matter what. Then the "swing voter" that's going to decide the result of the election -- they probably don't pay close enough attention to anything to know how bad Trump is/was.... and will see Biden and think to themselves that they can't vote for a guy who doesn't know what day of the week it is sometimes. It's not hard.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
More evidence that shows conservatives/republicans don’t even like each other.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I hope she lied. When the best possible candidate the republicans had to offer has to go in front of the RNC convention and claim she has now given up her own principals to bow down before their orange God, we can only hope that's a lie.
But then many, including J.D. Vamce have done the exact same thing.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
