Republican January 6 Committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (IL) was hit with a cease and desist letter from Republican strategist Alex Bruesewitz after he claimed the congressman defamed him by publishing some details of the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans he received during the height of coronavirus pandemic.
Over the long weekend, the sitting congressman sarcastically asked on social media if Bruesewitz had paid back the PPP loans he received during the coronavirus pandemic. Kinzinger claimed the GOP strategist had no employees then and published a screenshot of a website showing Bruesewitz received $25,000 in a PPP loan for payroll.
Kinzinger’s comments were in response to Bruesewitz claiming that the congressman supported President Joe Biden calling the millions of Americans who voted for former President Donald Trump “enemies of the state.”
On Monday, Bruesewitz, a pro-Trump political strategist and CEO of X Strategies LLC, “strongly” suggested that the congressman retract his statement and issue an apology for “deliberately & maliciously” defaming him.
“When my company received a PPP Loan, I was 23 & employed 2 people full-time Today, I am 25 years old & employ 10 people,” Bruesewitz wrote on social media.
Bruesewitz said that Kinzinger went after a private citizen by claiming he had defrauded the U.S. government out of money when he accepted the PPP loans to pay his employees. “Only problem is, he knew I had employees. My attorney, @JeffClarkUS has sent Kinzinger a Cease & Desist,” he said.
“Attached below you will find the full 7 page Cease & Desist / Retraction demand that my General Counsel, @JeffClarkUS, sent to Congressman @AdamKinzinger,” the GOP strategist added. “We are giving Kinzinger 5 days to retract his defamatory statement & issue me a public apology.”
In the letter, the attorney accused the congressman of deceptively editing evidence to support his claim that Bruesewitz had no employees, despite Bruesewitz claiming he did.
“You deliberately cut off your screen shot of the information about X Strategies LLC” to leave out the part that states the small business had two employees at the time it applied for a PPP loan, the letter said.
On Tuesday, Bruesewitz threatened the congressman with “legal action” if he did not retract his statement, which the strategist claimed was defamatory.
At the same time, Kinzinger — who sits on the January 6 Committee, which is going after Trump supporters, including Bruesewitz, who had previously been summoned to testify in front of the committee — doubled down by stating on Tuesday that he had more information on Bruesewitz and would be releasing it.
Kinzinger, who has spent the last ten years in Congress, announced last October he would be retiring from Congress.
While his retirement did not come as a surprise, given his unpopularity among his own party, the congressman has spent the last year in Congress going after Republicans — both from the January 6 Committee and in television appearances on CNN and MSNBC.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.