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Ohio bartender accused of threatening to kill Boehner

CINCINNATI — An Ohio bartender with a history of psychiatric illness was indicted last week on a charge of threatening to murder House Speaker John Boehner, possibly by poisoning his drink at a country club or shooting him, according to court documents.

A grand jury indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Ohio on Jan. 7 identified the accused man as Cincinnati resident Michael R. Hoyt, said the records made available Tuesday.

A separate criminal complaint said Hoyt was fired last fall from his job at a country club in West Chester, Ohio, where he served drinks to Boehner, who is a member. The complaint says Hoyt told a police officer that before leaving the country club, he “did not have time to put something in John Boehner’s drink.” Hoyt also told officers that no one checks the drinks he had poured for Boehner, and it would have been easy to slip something in his drink, the complaint said.

Hoyt is currently being held under a court order for mental evaluation and treatment, and U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI believe he “poses a current and ongoing credible threat” to Boehner, the complaint added.

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