The story in Glitter Gulch this week is one of blackmail, video cameras, small-time and big-time politics, sex, corruption and, of course, money. But the local newspapers refuse to report the story, apparently because they want a loser to win.
Here’s the story, as reported initially in Breitbart and now picked up by half a dozen outlets.
Democrat Adam Frisch is running to unseat conservative firebrand Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Frisch was an Aspen city councilman for eight years, stepping down in 2019. According to an article in the Aspen Times at the time he stepped down, “some constituents thought he oscillated, or that he voted whatever way the political winds were blowing.”
Frisch’s response was “I was being pragmatic and people appreciated that . . . But people saw me making the sausage in my head and thought I was being wishy-washy. … I would’ve been more effective if I talked less.”
One of those constituents has offered an alternative reason for Frisch’s wishy-washy, pragmatic, sausage making. He says he blackmailed Frisch for his, um, oscillating.
The constituent was a local businessman who ran a taxi company. Aspen was considering letting the shared ride service Lyft into town, a proposal that Frisch publicly favored as a city councilman.
It would have devastated the constituent’s taxi business. But then he got a break. The constituent had a few storage units in town which he rented out. Let’s let the constituent tell the story now:
“I said, ‘gee I wonder what’s going on?’ I went upstairs and was talking to my general manager about it and said, ‘why don’t you go look?’ My general manager . . . opened the door and my general manager saw Adam having sex with the woman that rented the storage unit. My general manager came back upstairs and came running into the office and was red and laughing hysterically. We continued to laugh hysterically in the office for quite some time. I called a few of my buddies and they got a laugh out of it. Sex in a storage unit? Who wouldn’t?”
Both Frisch and the woman were and are married, just not to each other. The constituent emailed Frisch, asking him to reconsider his support of the Lyft proposal. Attached to the email was the clip from the storage unit surveillance camera. Frisch got back to the man immediately and explained that he was indeed reconsidering his support for Lyft. Frisch continued to email the man in later days detailing his turnaround against the proposal. And the proposal then died.
The constituent seems to recognize the moral if not legal implications of this. He said:
“It absolutely was blackmail. I’m a straight shooter. Was it the right thing to do? No, it probably wasn’t the right thing to do. Was it a necessary thing to do based on the situation and me fighting for our survival and the fact that the city was trying to totally go above and beyond any purview they had to put me out of business basically? It was my fight for survival. I made a choice, just like Adam made a choice to sleep with the woman in the storage unit. I made a choice to use the information I had for my benefit.”
The legal implication apparently unrecognized by this constituent is that blackmail is a crime in Colorado, as it is most places. For his part, Frisch has said very little about the story, other than to vaguely pronounce it “a lie.”
Back to the Aspen newspapers. As of this writing, neither has reported this story. There are actually several stories here, none of which they’ve reported.
The least of these stories is that the abandonment of the Lyft proposal was apparently tainted with corruption. The next is that a former Aspen city councilman who switched his position on the proposal was apparently being blackmailed. The next is that this alleged blackmail is coming to light just three weeks before this former city councilman’s election against a conservative Republican.
If the blackmail story is true, it’s news that a political candidate was successfully blackmailed. If it’s untrue, then it’s news that an untrue allegation of blackmail against this candidate has been made.
But the Aspen newspapers just want it to go away. Their desire that this guy win outweighs whatever is left of their journalism.
One more thing. In one of Frisch’s initial broadcast emails drumming up support for his candidacy to unseat Boebert, he dubbed her “Boebert the Betrayer.” I thought “betrayer” was an odd and amateurish bit of name-calling. Now I conclude it may have been a bit of projection on Frisch’s part.
the Aspen beat 
“Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.”
Internet sage, Iowa Hawk David Burge
Ah, nice to be a Democrat in a country whose mainstream media is journalism free. (PS If not being offended by people having sex in a storage unit is part of being a with it feminist, count me out.)
Hey, you want to see my Storage Unit? LOL
Not if it’s a mini storage unit.
Thanks Glenn for hitting this topic. The news that the local leftist Aspen newspapers refuse to cover this worthy news item just adds another intriguing wrinkle to the story.
But this story has all of the juicy and sordid aspects that makes this something that would sell lots of newspapers and/or get lots of online hits.
An illicit affair in a storage locker.
Video recording of the affair.
Blackmail.
A compromised Democrat city councilman who sold out his vote and is now running for Congress.
Lies and more lies.
The Aspen newspapers have very strange business models. Perhaps to these media outlets a Democrat politician having an illicit affair, getting blackmailed, and compromising his vote on City Council is just ho, hum … par for the course.
I suppose for Democrats nowadays, these are not disqualifications for higher office but rather mandatory prerequisites to move up to Congress.
I have submitted letters to the two Aspen papers, the Glenwood Post Independent and the Delta County Independent asking about the lack of coverage. I do not follow the Aspen papers, so I won’t know if they are published.
“Journalism consists of reporting ‘Lord Jones has died’ to people who were not aware Lord Jones had lived.” -GK Chesterton
The businessman is straight out a blackmailer or extortionist. The politician effectively accepted a benefit in return for a legislative vote. Why am I thinking of that old song, “Two Tickets to Paradise”? There must be some reason.
“…people saw me making the sausage in my head and thought I was being wishy-washy.” It wasn’t the sausage in his head that got him into trouble this time, but the sausage in his pants.
“If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen,” is the official motto of The Aspen Daily News. The de facto motto, apparently, is “Like it never happened” — unless, of course, it’s something truly scandalous such as Lauren Boebert being invited by an Evangelical church to speak to its members.
No election denier, Lauren Boebert in this case, deserves to hold a seat in Congress. PERIOD! If you disagree, please explain your position and also explain why an election denier deserves to hold a seat in Congress. How is an election denier is good for our democracy. As Glenn stated in his previous article, “So, remind me: Who’s the threat to democracy”?
See: 1st Amendment to the Constitution. Using words like “election denier” is waving the fascist flag. You wish to censor free speech. You want to have the force of the government determine which speech is allowed, and which is not. You’re unAmerican.
Destruction of democracy is UNAMERICAN! Why can’t you simply explain why someone who denies the results of our 2020 Presidential election deserves to hold a seat in Congress…you can’t!
By the way, how is that ‘1st Amendment to the Constitution’ working out for Alex Jones? As I recall, the families of Sandy Hook won a 965 million dollar judgement this past week!
Maury, do you have an opinion on the actions of Adam Frisch, who after all is the topic of this piece?
Good morning Glenn. I am against anyone being blackmailed that compromises their moral and ethical integrity. In this case, if true, what Adam allegedly did is disgraceful. The people that are affected most, are his constituents. As we discuss Lauren Boebert, who is running against Adam Frisch, Republican state Senator Don Coram painted Boebert as a liar who “claims credit for things she had absolutely nothing to do with.” Coram urged Colorado voters to back Adam Frisch. One last comment from Coram, he said Boebert “spends her time jet-setting around the country promoting herself and extreme rhetoric that only divides this country further.” “It’s disgraceful and we should expect more from our United States representative.” – Montrose Daily Press – Oct. 12, 2022
Hillary Clinton still declares that President Trump’s 2016 election was “stolen” from her and is on video many times stating this election denial. She should be in prison for many crimes, but that isn’t one of them.
Also, we are not a Democracy. We are a Constitutional Republic. Have a nice day living in the greatest country in history, which has given you the freedom to speak your mind. Just like Representative Lauren Boebert. And me.
For those who may be confused the Democratic Party and “our democracy” are not the same entity. The one does not exist as our system of governance is a representative republic. (The founders distrusted and specifically avoided our establishment as a democracy.) The other is a long standing fraud. No organization has done more to degrade and diminish democratic institutions within this republic than the Democratic Party,
The story is outrageous, and here’s why I’m outraged. This blackmailer kept Lyft and Uber from Aspen, so he could have exclusive access to taxi services in the area.
We just got back from a trip to New Orleans, and we used Uber all the time. It’s easy, and the “gig” workers who were our drivers were happy to have a job that allowed them to work the hours they want, when they want. This blackmailer denied gig workers access to Aspen, and he denied citizens and visitors the use of a great service.
Arrest him. Try him. Send him to prison.
The taxi monopoly colluded with the compromised Aspen city councilrat to withhold more efficient and less costly transportation to the local people.
At best it’s cronyism … at worst it’s fascism.
Why are you surprised? The same thing is happened at The Estes Park Trail-Gazette, where the publisher of record, Michael Anthony Romero, Senior, censors stories of merit and worth which contradict his personal, partisan political agenda.
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Maury L. Brochstein engages in a spectacular example of “Whattaboutism,” a favorite tactic of the left. Never mind that their guy got caught with his, um, thing in a wringer, blame the other guy, or in this case, the other woman. That one of the tactics the left relies on to defend the indefensible.
The “news media” is dishonest? Ohmygod.
Here’s an example. Following the link provided below search for “Lodging Tax Extension” and see if you can find ONE example of an article, op/ed, or letter to the editor from a resident of Estes Park, more specifically a business owner in Estes Park, OPPOSING the Lodging Tax Extension.
https://www.eptrail.com/
Allow the saving of a few moments of your time: NONE. ZIP. ZERO. NADA.
Despite the growing number of business owners in Estes Park who have been told by a growing number of customers: double the lodging tax increase and we will NOT come back because we can NOT afford it – nothing in “the newspaper of record” about this side of the issue. Nope. No, sir.
Because. . . the publisher of record, Michael Anthony Romero, Senior will profit from the lodging tax increase.
And. . . you wonder why people do NOT trust the “news media”.