HOH’s One-Minute Recess: BoehnerLand, Maverick PAC Occupy Carmine’s
Updated: 6:37 p.m.
After a tearful morning of accepting resignations and chiding sartorially challenged colleagues, Speaker John Boehner and his staff retired Wednesday night to Carmine’s to feast on family-style Italian and chew on their 2012 agenda.
The guest list for the annual retreat, which took place in one of Carmine’s nine private dining rooms, topped 80 guests, including a who’s who of “BoehnerLand.” For the uninitiated, “‘BoehnerLand’ is a long-standing term for the Speaker’s staff and former staff,” a Boehner aide explained — plus a separate table for the Ohio Republican’s omnipresent security detail.
The group dined on oversized portions of fried calamari, ravioli ragu, penne alla vodka, shrimp scampi, lemon-butter chicken and veal parmigiano (“It’s the best in the city,” the Boehner aide asserted.)
Didn’t get the invite?
You can give hobnobbing with GOP bigwigs at Carmine’s another shot tonight. That’s when political scion George P. Bush will be there breaking bread with the Capital Chapter of his Maverick PAC. A Maverick PAC aide said no sitting Members of Congress are expected to attend the Bush-led fundraiser.
Clarification: Jan. 26, 2012
An earlier version of this story overstated how many members of “BoehnerLand” were at Carmine’s for dinner.
