Rep. Joe Walsh is fed up with claims he owes more than $100,000 in child support.
The Tea Party congressman told a crowd of supporters Thursday in Wauconda that reports first printed by the Chicago Sun-Times are "wildly inaccurate."
During the first of 10 town halls, Walsh, a freshman from Fox Lake, said he would "privately" fight the claims to clear his name, according to the Daily Herald. He won't discuss the family matter in the media, he said.
Walsh's ex-wife, Laura, filed a claim in December that he owes her and their kids $117,000. Court documents show that Laura Walsh was surprised to read in congressional campaign disclosures that he was able to afford a $35,000 loan to his campaign. He now makes $175,000 per year.
But Walsh disputes that he owes the three-figure sum and called the original story a "hit piece."
"Let me say this," he said in a statement last week. "I love all the members of my family past and present. I’ve always given everything I have to meet my financial obligations to my children and I will fight until my last breath against anyone who says otherwise."
The town hall crowd backed him, and according to the Daily Herald, one person who pressed him was booed. The economy, debt talks and President Obama were more popular topics of discussion.
Walsh has scheduled nine other town hall meetings during the next week, including a 1 p.m. talk Friday in Fox Lake.
