Neil Friske, the frisky Michigan state representative arrested last week for allegedly assaulting a stripper, insisted he was “framed” in his first interview after his release from jail.
Friske was arrested June 20 after allegedly assaulting an exotic dancer from Deja Vu Showgirls Club, a strip club near his home in Lansing, and chasing her as he held a gun.
“As many of us know, Rep Friske is always exercising his 2nd Amendment right,” his campaign said on Facebook after the arrest.
Fox 2 Detroit reported that “police asked the prosecutor to file three felony charges of one count of felony sexual assault, one count of felony assault excluding sexual, and one count of felony weapons. Friske has been released without charges for now as the investigation continues.”
Friske denied any guilt, stating after his release the day after the arrest, “I am confident that this investigation will totally exonerate me.”
It is unclear exactly what occurred before Fiske’s 2:45 am arrest, as Lansing Police declined The Post’s public-records request for video and documentation relating to the incident, saying that “the disclosure would interfere with ongoing law enforcement investigative proceedings.”
But in his first appearance since his release, Friske confidently stated he believes his enemies framed him as part of a plot against him.
Friske was welcomed to the “Your Defending Fathers” radio show Monday by host Trucker Randy, who told the lawmaker hackers had plotted to stop the radio host from coming to his defense on an earlier segment of his show: “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I was cyberattacked here at the home studio, and my main on-air production was fried at 3 a.m. on Friday because I had the Gateway Pundit story pulled up by Jim Hoft, and I was gonna read it on the radio, take testimony from listeners about you and your character, and they didn’t want me to talk about it on Friday.” The plot thickens.
Trucker Randy continued, “The reason they didn’t want me talking about it, Neil, is because of the response I’ve gotten from all the text messages this morning.”
When asked what occurred June 20, Friske said it’s clear to him he’s been framed.
“Just the way the events unfolded, it was very clear to me that something wasn’t right, and I was being framed into . . . being set up, and that’s how these people work, you know,” said the representative. “It’s just so frustrating. It’s just amazing how desperate people are that they go to these kinds of lengths to try to destroy someone.” Throughout the interview, Friske vaguely hinted at an enemy who orchestrated his arrest.
Those claims echo his campaign’s Facebook statement shortly after he was cuffed, which said the timing of his arrest was “highly suspect” because it occurred “after an unknown phone number conducted polling on the 107 race between Rep. Friske and our opponent with deep-state ties.”
“I just don’t even understand how someone that wants to claim to be an upright, Christian person can run this kind of a campaign and then live with themself and expect people to vote for him,” said Friske.
It is unclear who Friske is implying was behind his arrest, although it may be Parker Fairbairn, his GOP primary competitor in the 107th District, who was endorsed by Michigan Rep. Jack Bergman.
Friske remained defiant, declaring, “I know there’s been naysayers out there telling me I should step down, I should suspend my campaign. I am not doing that. That is not what I feel like God wants me to do, that’s not the message I’m getting from my supporters. And I’ve not done anything wrong, so why on Earth would I do that?”