Boehner gets negative press

Less than a week after West Chester Rep. John Boehner was elected House majority leader - the No. 2 Republican in the House - he’s already been targeted for connections to lobbyists.

"It’s open season," said Ross Baker, a Rutgers University specialist on Congress. "When you reach a degree of prominence like that, it follows that you are going to get snipped at."

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Boehner is renting a two-bedroom basement apartment on Capitol Hill from a veteran lobbyist whose clients have an interest in legislation that Boehner has worked on.

Boehner, whose primary residence is in West Chester, pays $1,600 a month for the unit, which is fair market value in Washington’s expensive Capitol Hill neighborhood. He pays his rent on time and pays his own utilities, said landlady Debra Anderson, who lives in the townhouse with husband John D. Milne.

Boehner also was the subject of a separate story on Wednesday from The Associated Press because his former chief of staff, Barry Jackson, who is a native of West Chester, had planned to take a trip in 1996 to the Northern Mariana Islands - a trip organized by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty to using trips and gifts in an attempt to bribe lawmakers for official favors. However, Jackson, now chief deputy to White House senior adviser Karl Rove, didn’t end up going on the trip.

Boehner's spokesman Don Seymour: "These are both non-stories being pushed by John's opponents on the left. One of Boehner's staffers DIDN'T go on a trip 10 years ago? Boehner rents an apartment at fair market value from a guy who DOESN'T lobby him?"

Boehner is leaving tomorrow for a weekend retreat with House Republicans to discuss their agenda, which is to include lobbying reform.