BATON ROUGE - Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany is blaming one of his GOP rivals in Louisiana's U.S. Senate race for spreading allegations that Boustany was involved with prostitutes who were later killed.

The congressman held a call with reporters Wednesday to blast Treasurer John Kennedy and his campaign staff. Boustany says they've been engaged in a "smear campaign," sending around the allegations contained in a new book released this week.

"Murder In The Bayou" includes a chapter with the prostitution claims. The author cites multiple anonymous sources. He does not allege Boustany is involved in the slayings.

Boustany called the allegations "totally false, despicable lies."

Kennedy denied initially spreading the information. But after news media outlets wrote about the prostitution claims, Kennedy's campaign repeated the allegations in emails that linked the stories.