Boehner staying silent on threat

CINCINNATI — House Speaker John Boehner returned to the Capitol on Wednesday without commenting to reporters after disclosures that a bartender at a country club near his Ohio home is charged with threatening to kill him, either with a gun or by poisoning his drink.

A grand-jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Ohio on Jan. 7 identified the accused man as Cincinnati-area resident Michael Hoyt, who has a history of psychiatric illness. He was indicted on a charge of threatening to kill Boehner.

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel, has said the speaker is aware of the situation and grateful to authorities.

A separate criminal complaint filed in November said Hoyt came to authorities’ attention when he called 911 on Oct. 29. Hoyt told the operator: “This is Mike. I messed up.” He then asked the operator to call his father and let him know he was OK and was sorry he had made mistakes.

Hoyt told officers dispatched to his home that he had been fired from the West Chester, Ohio, country club where Boehner was a member and “did not have time to put something in John Boehner’s drink,” according to the complaint.

“Hoyt told the officer he was Jesus Christ and was going to kill Boehner because Boehner was mean to him at the country club and because Boehner is responsible for Ebola,” the documents said.

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