Michigan attorney general to decide on criminal charges for GOP state lawmaker

The Michigan attorney general is taking over a state lawmaker's criminal case after police sought charges against him.

Republican state Rep. Neil Friske has been under investigation by a county prosecutor, but now that multiple jurisdictions are involved, prosecutors are handing the case off to Attorney General Dana Nessel.

It has been 81 days since police sought charges against Friske. The announcement of the attorney general taking the case is the first public update about it since Friske was released from prison on bond, MichiganLive reported Tuesday.

Friske was arrested after police were called to his neighborhood in the middle of the night after reports of shots fired. While investigating the possible gunfire, police learned a woman might have been sexually assaulted.

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Friske has denied accusations of wrongdoing and claims "no evidence was found" to substantiate the claims. He was voted out in the Republican primary, losing to Parker Fairbairn 63 percent to 36 percent.

Friske beat Fairbairn two years ago and was one of 11 Republican state lawmakers who demanded that voting rights ballot measures that voters supported in the 2022 and 2018 elections be reversed.

Read the full report here.