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National Guard 'Looking Into' Kinzinger's Criticism Of Wisconsin Governor

Adam Kinzinger stands at a podium.
Harry Hamburg
/
AP
Representative Adam Kinzinger speaks on Capitol Hill in 2011.

A spokeswoman for an Illinois congressman who doubles as a Wisconsin National Guard pilot says he shouldn't face any discipline for criticizing Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers for withdrawing troops from the U.S. southern border because he was off duty when he made his remarks.

Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger criticized Evers on Twitter and on Fox News on Monday for an executive order pulling Wisconsin National Guard troops out of Arizona. Wisconsin statutes prohibit a commissioned officer from using "contemptuous words" against government officials, including the president and Wisconsin's governor.

Guard officials and Evers' office are looking into whether to discipline Kinzinger, a Bloomington-Normal native and Illinois State University graduate.

Kinzinger's spokeswoman, Maura Gillespie, tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Kinzinger was exercising his freedom of speech rights off duty, just as he has done when he has criticized President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.

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