Indiana 9 th District Congressman Trey Hollingsworth distanced himself Monday from a Tennessee newspaper report that his father received more than a half million dollars in Paycheck Protection Program funding to support a single job.
The report published by the Knoxville News Sentinel says Joe Hollingsworth Jr.’s convenience store business received the emergency loan of $546,700 but that only one employee was helped with the money. The newspaper reported the funds could be used for payroll or mortgage, rent and utility costs.
The four Git N Go convenience stores covered in the loan are just part of Joe Hollingsworth’s business portfolio. The newspaper says he did not respond when asked to confirm if the federal government’s report was accurate.
The newspaper also cited an earlier USA Today report that found loans went to roughly half a dozen companies with connections to members of Congress.
Trey Hollingsworth says he has no connection to these businesses. His office responded to WFIU’s request for comment with this statement from Hollingsworth:
“No company that I own any part of applied for or received a PPP loan. Additionally, my office was not asked to provide assistance, nor did it provide any assistance, to the companies mentioned.”
Republican Hollingsworth was first elected to represent Indiana’s 9 th District in 2016. He won re-election to a third term in November. Bloomington is the largest city in the district.
Mitch Legan contributed to this story.
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