Is That Acceptable Under the Gift Ban?

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) returned from Libya with a new pair of sunglasses courtesy of his host, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Gaddafi gave Boehner the stylish souvenir during the Republican leader's brief, and somewhat bizarre, visit with the Libyan strongman. En route to Tripoli, Boehner's plane was diverted to Surt, Gaddafi's hometown on the Gulf of Sidra. Emissaries showed the Ohio Republican a man-made lake in the middle in the desert before shuttling him off on a caravan into the country's barren expanse. On the drive, they encountered Bedouin herders marshalling goats along the road. Eventually, the caravan headed directly into the desert, where it came upon a big white tent. Boehner was led inside, where he met the colonel. Carpets covered the uneven desert floor. The two sat on white folding chairs and proceeded to have "a very frank discussion," Boehner said while recounting his spring break trip for a crowd of reporters at a Christian Science Monitor lunch at the Capitol Hilton on Thursday. Trending News Google Cloud Outage Missing Connecticut Mom Virginia Beach Shooting Protester Interrupts Harris At one point, an aide to Gaddafi entered the tent with a box of sunglasses. Upon reviewing the box, the colonel offered Boehner a pair, telling the Republican leader that the "desert not kind to blue eyes." Boehner accepted the gift from the Libyan colonel, telling reporters Thursday that "they're nice glasses, but they don't fit." When a reporter present asked him whether the sunglasses were acceptable under the gift ban, most of the assembled scribesat the long banquet table chuckled along with the Republican leader.Congressis oftendull, but life as a congressman can still be an adventure.