ink-stained wretches

Don’t Bet on a Times Boehner Bombshell

This morning the Post ran a story about liberal blogger Mike Stark’s run-in with House Minority Leader John Boehner. Stark had asked Boehner point-blank whether he was sleeping with Lisbeth Lyons, the VP of government affairs at the Printing Industries of America, according to her LinkedIn page. Boehner ignored the question, and Lyons herself told Stark over the phone that she has “no comment.” Both were apparently saving their denials for the Post, with Boehner’s office calling the allegation “bullshit,” and Lyons saying it was “highly offensive” and “unfounded.” But according to the Post, Stark wasn’t the only one investigating the affair — so was the Times.

Insiders on Capitol Hill are buzzing about an upcoming New York Times exposé that will detail an alleged Boehner affair. Sources say the Times is looking for the right time to drop the story in October to sway the election, similar to how the Times reported during the 2008 presidential campaign on an alleged John McCain affair that supposedly had taken place many years before and that was flatly denied by the woman in question.

While officially the Times tells us, “We don’t comment on what may or may not run in future editions of the New York Times,” a knowledgeable source at the paper says that the Post story is “utter garbage” and that there’s currently “no story” about a Boehner affair in the works. Of course, you never know what might happen now that the rumor is out there.

Don’t Bet on a Times Boehner Bombshell