Peoria Standard

Peoria activist Gary McCullough doesn’t mince words about what he thinks needs to happen in the wake of allegations that Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Rockford) had a romantic relationship with a former Russian beauty queen after applying for an internship with his office.

“Kinzinger needs to not only resign but be investigated since he’s compromised himself to that degree,” McCullough told the Peoria Standard. “There needs to be investigation of what he has revealed.”

Olga Kambod told the National File she first met Kinzinger back in 2018 and soon after that the two embarked on a four-month romantic relationship where she sent him racy photos at his request. She says she provided reporters with “extensive communications” that back up her claims of the relationship.

The publication described the text message exchanges between Kambod and an old phone number once linked to Kinzinger as “sexually charged and volatile.”

Kambod also provided emails from Kinzinger’s congressional staff discussing what were to be her internship duties.

According to the National File, Kambod further alleges the relationship started to go sour after Kinzinger became incensed when she accused him of suffering from “low levels of testosterone.”

She never served the internship and claims she was later the target of a full-blown “over-the-phone intimidation campaign” that included calls from someone claiming to be “Capitol Police” as part of what she saw as an effort to keep her quiet.

McCullough said he struggles to make sense out of all of it.

“Why have a Russian student be an intern when we have plenty of U.S. citizens that would intern,” he said. “You wouldn’t have the complications of a foreign entity interning in our lawmaking process. Besides the law making process, there are all kinds of intelligence reports that come through these Congressmen’s offices. So that is no place for any of foreign entity to be, rather they’re a student or a janitor.”