Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - The Wisconsin National Guard is looking into whether an Illinois congressman who belongs to a Madison-based Guard unit violated state law by criticizing Gov. Tony Evers publicly and releasing information about a troop withdrawal.

U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on Monday called into question Evers' decision to pull troops away from the U.S. border with Mexico through tweets and an appearance on Fox News.

RELATED:Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers pulls back Wisconsin troops from the U.S. border with Mexico

The criticism notified the public of the withdrawal and came hours before Evers released an executive order calling back the 112 National Guard soldiers and airmen from the border. In issuing the order, Evers cited opposition to President Donald Trump's assertion that a national security crisis exists on the southern border.

State and federal law as well as U.S. Department of Defense directives require punishment be leveled against "any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the president, the vice-president, members of congress, the secretary of defense, the secretary of a military department, the secretary of homeland security, or the governor or legislature of the state of Wisconsin."

In response to questions from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about whether Kinzinger's comments qualified as contemptuous, Wisconsin National Guard spokesman Capt. Joe Trovato said the matter is being reviewed.

A spokeswoman for Kinzinger said the lieutenant colonel was off duty when he made his remarks about Evers.

"The congressman is off-duty and has the right to exercise his freedom of speech as he so chooses, just as he has done when critical of the current president and the president before him," spokeswoman Maura Gillespie said.

Wisconsin Republicans were enraged by Evers' decision to withdraw troops from the border, saying he was catering to "his liberal base."

"Governor Evers’ decision is more about political ideology than anything else," Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said. "The troop withdrawal doesn’t save any Wisconsin taxpayer dollars. The operation is federally funded. It’s yet another example of how our governor is catering to his Dane County liberal base and refusing to do what’s best for our state and in this case, the entire nation.”

But state Democrats said Trump has created a manufactured crisis at the border, and backed the governor's decision.

"President Trump does not understand the sacrifices that our service men and women and their families make to protect our country," Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said. "Our soldiers should never be used as political pawns for made-up emergencies to fulfill campaign promises."