fus·ti·gate 
(fŭstĭ-gāt′)
(fŭstĭ-gāt′)tr.v. fus·ti·gat·ed, fus·ti·gat·ing, fus·ti·gates
1. To beat with a club; cudgel.
2. To criticize harshly: "Joe McCarthy .... fustigated Robert La Follette Jr., the incumbent whom he whipped in the GOP primary, as an isolationist" (Bill Kauffman).
[Late Latin fūstigāre, fūstigāt- : Latin fūstis, club; see FUSTY + Latin agere, to do; see ag- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
fus′ti·gation n.