CHANNAHON, IL — Former six-term Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who lived in Channahon, alerted his 491,000 Facebook followers on Friday morning that "I have to talk to you about something serious. The Trump Administration is coming after me, threatening me with a new investigation to try to silence me."
Kinzinger notified all of his Facebook followers that this past week, on Wednesday, a Politico reporter "frantically reached out to me about an impending investigation into me by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission."
Kinzinger said he "shared everything I knew about the situation with them. Because the Trump Administration is clearly trying to intimidate me, but I have nothing to hide."
Kinzinger explained that the CFTC "is supposedly looking into bets I made as a private citizen in 2024 on politics. The amount I wagered on the issues in question? Less than $700 across two bets. That's right, the U.S. government is coming after me for betting a few hundred dollars as a private citizen while Donald Trump rakes in billions of dollars from cryptocurrency schemes and stock trades while in office."
Kinzinger said he realized that people reading his social media posts may want to know why he was making these bets to begin with.
"Like many of you, I am a political junkie who likes to watch the daily news cycles. In my mind, me making hobbyist bets on politics was like a former athlete betting on their old sport for fun."
One of the most important messages Kinzinger said he wanted everyone to remember was this: "I did nothing wrong. They know it. The press knows it and I've already lost everything for telling the truth about Donald Trump. I'm not about to back down now ... Onward, together."
In 2023, Patch reported that that with his days in Congress over, Kinzinger was taking a new job working for CNN.
"Join us in welcoming Adam Kinzinger to CNN as a Senior Political Commentator. Welcome to CNN, Adam!" CNN announced on X, then known as Twitter.
"Happy to join the team CNN!" Kinzinger wrote back.
Kinzinger made his first official appearance as an employee of the network — where he's been featured numerous times — on "Erin Burnett OutFront," telling the host, "it's great to be on the team ... I'm excited."
On his Facebook page, Kinzinger describes himself this way: "Former GOP Congressman. Voted to impeach Trump. Now fighting for our democracy. Lt. Col. Air National Guard (retired). Founder of Country First."
Related Patch coverage of Adam Kinzinger:
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