Memory Lane:
Lawmaker Says He Passed PAC Money on House Floor
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition [New York, N.Y]
13 May 1996
Sumary:
1996, John Boehner passed out Tobacco PAC campaign checks on the House Floor. Rep. Steve Largent, a freshman, called him on it and persuaded him (with others) to do that elsewhere.
Boehner said yes he did, it was stupid, he will not do it again.
It was not noted if Boener cried
The New York Times
March 11, 1998, Wednesday, Late Edition - Final
Disclosure of a Conversation
SECTION: Section A; Page 22; Column 1; Editorial Desk
excerpt (last paragraph)
“...This civil lawsuit appears to be little more than retaliation against Mr. McDermott, who was the senior Democrat on the Ethics Committee. Mr. Boehner is not suing the Martins for damages. Nor is he suing the news organizations, thereby recognizing that press freedoms allow the publication of truthful, lawfully obtained, newsworthy information. The same freedoms apply to citizens in general, including members of Congress. Mr. Boehner is harassing a political opponent with a suit that threatens to trample on free speech and Congressional prerogatives....”
My guess is any alleged wrong doing is financial in nature, but buried so deep it would take a financial expert to unravel it all. Above my pay-grade, I still add with my fingers. :)
There are rumors of an affair, but in his day & age it will take more than an affair.
His parties during the conventions are legendary. An A list type of guy.
Was quoted by The Washington Post saying a ban on privately paid trips by lawmakers and their staffs as ‘’childish.’’
The one constant theme I found tonight was how tight he is and has always has been with K St and Lobbyists, and makes no apologies.
Wallstreet, 1998 & parties:
Mr. Yoder, instead, moved to attach an entire financial reform measure to the annual financial services and general government-spending bill. Aides to the congressman said he was in no way carrying water for Wall Street. Instead, they said, he was looking out for regional and small banks and for farmers caught up in Dodd-Frank regulations.
Large agribusinesses routinely use derivatives to hedge against unexpected fluctuations in crop prices or foreign currencies. Under the new regulations, companies would have to take out loans for farm operations from one bank, strike swap agreements with another financial firm, and provide collateral for both.
At the time, Representative José E. Serrano of New York, the ranking Democrat on the financial services subcommittee of the appropriation committee, questioned how a measure so important could be an amendment to a spending bill.
Ms. Kaptur asked: “I’d like to know, who is really behind this? Who has enough power to bring this before this committee?”
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6719442
But Boehner’s climb up the leadership ladder was soon to be interrupted. After a stormy 104th Congress, and the re-election of Bill Clinton in 1996, several members of the GOP leadership team were dismayed at Gingrich’s confrontational style and the GOP’s declining popularity. In the summer of 1997, several members of the leadership team attempted to overthrow Gingrich. They came within hours of a floor motion to strip him of his powers before they were exposed and thwarted.
Boehner’s role in the attempted coup (if any) was unclear, and he remained in his job for the remainder of the 105th Congress. But after the GOP lost five seats in the 1998 midterm election, Gingrich was ousted as leader, and Boehner was challenged for the conference chairmanship by Oklahoma’s J.C. Watts. Republicans, disgruntled at the returns and looking for scapegoats, elected Watts.
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Disgraced Ex-Congressman Attacks John Boehner in New Book
Ney’s most dramatic accusations are against his fellow Ohioan John Boehner, the man he once saw as his biggest rival to someday being speaker. He describes Boehner as “a bit lazy” and “a man who was all about winning and money. He was a chain-smoking, relentless wine drinker who was more interested in the high life—golf, women, cigarettes, fun, and alcohol.” He said Boehner “spent almost all of his time on fundraising, not policy.” He “golfed, drank constantly, and took the easy way legislatively.” Ney recalled Boehner handing out checks on the House floor and said his ties with a tobacco company were so tight that lawmakers could get free cigarettes from Boehner’s office. His golfing, Ney said, was “nonstop” and “paid for by lobbyists.”
Ney wrote: “If the Justice Department were ever to make John produce receipts for his addiction to golf just for the years from 1995 to 2004, he would be hard-pressed to comply. John got away with more than any other Member on the Hill.”
The most inflammatory accusation against Boehner in the book is Ney’s contention that he ended his reelection campaign after winning the primary in 2006 only after Boehner, then the majority leader, summoned the cash-strapped and embattled congressman to his office and told him if he quit the race, Boehner would take care of him. “If you resign the next day, I will personally guarantee you a job comparable to what you are making, and raise legal defense money for you that should bury all this Justice Department problem for you,” Boehner said, according to Ney. He said he pressed Boehner, repeating the terms and getting assurance that the offer was “ironclad.” When Ney called back the next day to accept the deal, he wrote that he again repeated the terms to Boehner, who agreed. “Because of Boehner’s promise, I stepped aside,” he wrote. But Ney said Boehner did not keep his word. “I had been lied to and ditched,” Ney said.
http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/insider-spills-beans-on-d-c-s-dirty-secrets/
“I’m not calling anyone an alcoholic, being a recovering alcoholic, but I’ve got to tell you John Boehner is a constant drinker of wine. He’s been seen with lobbyists for decades on a nightly basis and drinking. I’m not judging him, but I think it’s part of the story.