Former Aspen Democrat City Councilman Adam Frisch, who is now running for Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s House seat, was successfully blackmailed for his vote on a local issue to keep an affair secret, according to a new report.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Aspen businessman Todd Gardner, who ran a taxi service and a storage facility, told the publication he caught Frisch having sex in a storage unit five years ago. One year later, the City of Aspen was considering a partnership with the ride-share company Lyft for a project that threatened to put Gardner’s taxis out of business. Gardner reportedly threatened to reveal Frisch’s affair if the councilman, who initially supported what was called “mobility lab,” did not reverse course to oppose the experimental transportation project.
“It was absolutely blackmail,” Gardner admitted to Breitbart News.
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.
Frisch’s campaign did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.
In 2018, Aspen was planning to test the new transportation program offering residents and visitors assistance to access electric bikes, scooters, and shuttles. The city’s mayor at the time, Steven Skadron, published a quote with the Aspen Chamber Resort Association that made the service sound as if all the arrangements had been made.
“Transforming the transit experience is one of the City Council’s top nine goals and we’ve been working toward the SHIFT project for two years,” Skadron said. “This partnership with Lyft, the country’s leading-edge mobility company, will help provide opportunities for Aspen residents, commuters, and visitors that would not have been possible otherwise.”
Gardner then reportedly sent an email to Frisch with footage revealing evidence of the affair. “He went to survival mode,” Gardner told Breitbart News. “Politically, he’s pretty savvy. He came out and worked hard lobbying against it. He was very vocal out there lobbying against it and showing up to meetings.”
Gardner says he is no fan of the incumbent congresswoman. “I don’t like her. I don’t think she has a clue,” Gardner told Breitbart News, but added, “when you send somebody to the United States Congress, it’s their integrity that matters. Adam has no integrity.”
Ben Stout, a spokesman for Boebert’s re-election campaign for a second term called the alleged episode disqualifying. “Adam Frisch changing his vote as an Aspen city councilman so he could hide an extramarital affair makes it clear Adam Frisch has no business being in public office,” Stout told Breitbart. “His wife and children do not deserve to be dragged into his mess. That said, Adam Frisch should absolutely be held accountable for being a corrupt politician.”
Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown called on Frisch to drop out of the race. “Any elected official who has made themselves subject to blackmail can’t be an effective representative for Colorado families,” Brown said in a statement. “While many things within this story are disturbing, it’s clear to most that Adam does not have the temperament, the morals, the backbone, or the judgement needed to be a successful elected official.”
Boebert won her first election as a prominent gun-rights activist to represent Colorado’s rural Third Congressional District two years ago by 6 points.
