— A state senator threatened to sue former Congressman Robert Pittenger for libel Tuesday after Pittenger slammed him in an email blast that was soon retracted.

Pittenger initially told supporters that Sen. Dan Bishop, R-Mecklenburg, who is running in the do-over 9th Congressional District race, probably knew about the absentee ballot scam that forced the new election and that he worked closely with former candidate Mark Harris, who hired the political operative at the center of the scam.

"Incredulously, State Senator Dan Bishop is running for the seat, as he was a primary advisor to the Mark Harris campaign and integrally involved as a speaker and with campaign strategy and execution," Pittenger, who represented the 9th District until this year, said in the email. "Bishop, an attorney and litigator, clearly had knowledge of McCrae Dowless’ fraudulent activities."

Bishop denied that in his own letter, which he forwarded to the press after sending it to Pittenger. He gave Pittenger 30 minutes to send out a retraction.

"Failing that, I will sue you for libel not later than tomorrow," he promised.

Just after 8 p.m., Pittenger responded to an email thread that included Bishop and a number of reporters.

"The statements regarding Dan Bishop were false," he wrote.

Harrris' campaign manager, Jason Williams, also denied that Bishop had any role in the campaign beyond endorsing Harris.

"He never advised on strategy or, to my knowledge, even knew of the existence of McCrae Dowless," Williams said on Twitter.

Dowless is the Bladen County operative at the center of the scandal, and he faces state criminal charges over his alleged handling of absentee ballots. He has said, through an attorney, that he did nothing wrong, but witnesses fingered him during a State Board of Elections hearing last month. Warrants also indicate an FBI agent surveilled him during last year's election cycle.

In his email blast, addressed "Dear Patriot Friend," Pittenger also bashed Bishop's handling of House Bill 2, the legislation limiting transgender rights that Bishop sponsored in 2016, which was partially repealed the following year after a national backlash. Pittenger called Bishop "not a good choice" and endorsed former Mecklenburg County Commissioner Matthew Ridenhour in the 10-way Republican primary to replace him in Congress.

"You are entitled to endorse a candidate for the seat you lost and to hold and express opinions, even if born of that bitterness," Bishop said in his letter Tuesday. "You cannot publish lies about me."