White House officials challenged the veracity Monday of an account of a private conversation Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said he had with President Obama.

On June 18, Kyl, the Senate Republican Whip, told a North Tempe Tea Party town hall that in an Oval Office conversation between the two of them about securing the US-Mexico border, “here’s what the president said: ‘The problem is,’ he said, ‘if we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support ‘comprehensive immigration reform.’ In other words, they’re holding it hostage. They don’t want to secure the border unless and until it is combined with ‘comprehensive immigration reform.’”

The White House Monday rejected Kyl’s account.