WASHINGTON —Liberty Tire Recycling L.L.C. is defending itself against claims by Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. that it sold thousands of recalled tires as used tires, instead of recycling them, saying Kumho never informed it that the tires had been recalled and were to be destroyed. Kumho claims in a recall notice issued recently that Liberty Tire last summer sold 7,875 Kumho Solus KH25 radial car tires—which had holes drilled through the tread to render them unusable—to various tire wholesalers in Texas, New York, North Carolina and Puerto Rico. In a statement, Liberty Tire said Kumho did not inform the recycler until April 2013 that the tires had been recalled. "We were not made aware of any NHTSA safety recall that applied to these tires when we received them last summer," Liberty Tire said. "Moreover, these tires were not properly incapacitated by Kumho and were not under a 'destroy-only' contractual agreement.