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from www.politico.com – Longtime Democratic Rep. Dale Kildee (Mich.) is vehemently denying allegations that he sexually abused an underage male cousin several decades ago, calling the accusations “completely false and shameful.”

Kildee blamed his estranged relatives for the allegations — first reported by conservative journalist who has defended disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff — and suggested they were trying to “blackmail” him in order to receive money or “federal benefits.” Kildee said he reported the incident to the FBI.

“This is a concerted effort by distant relatives, two of whom have a long history of mental illness and multiple run-ins with the law, along with political adversaries to destroy my reputation by lying about something that never took place more than 50 years ago,” Kildee said in a statement released by his office on Sunday night.

Kildee asserted that Republican political operatives were behind the effort to discredit him, and that his estranged relatives, including the son of the man he allegedly abused, “asked me for money and federal benefits, which I refused to do and which I formally reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“Republicans tried to peddle these scurrilous allegations during my last congressional race and authorities and reputable news outlets rejected these false allegations,” Kildee said.

“Now they are back at it again to try to win an open congressional seat.”

Kildee was elected to the House in 1976 and is currently the number two Democrat on the Education and Workforce and Natural Resources committees. Kildee worked as a high school teacher for a decade before entering politics in the mid-1960s. He was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1964, a post he served in for 10 years. Kildee served a term in the Michigan state Senate, and then was elected to Congress.

Kildee announced he was retiring in July, but his nephew Dan declared in November that he was seeking his uncle’s seat.

The allegations against Kildee were reported by a self-described “investigative journalist” and blogger named Susan Bradford.

Bradford is the author of a book claiming that Abramoff was set up by “a group of lobbyists, tribal dissidents, and the Washington Post” in order to make sure that “Abramoff and his conservative allies were removed from power.”

The alleged abuse centers around claims that Kildee molested the then 12-year-old boy sometime in the 1960s. The molestation, which reportedly went on for a period of five years, allegedly took place at the home of Kildee’s now deceased second cousin.

Kildee has been married for 45 years and has three adult children.