House Minority Leader John Boehner has a reputation among Washington insiders for his hard-partying ways, but public suggestions that Boehner might have a drinking problems have been a rarity. That's what makes MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's remarks about the Ohio Republican's bar-hopping habits worthy of notice.

"I hear it on the Hill, I'm sure you hear it on the Hill all the time, it's not reported," Scarborough told a guest from Politico on Wednesday's Morning Joe. "But so many Republicans tell me that this is a guy that is not the hardest worker in the world."

"After five o'clock, six o'clock at night he's disengaged -- at best," Scarborough continued. "You can see him around town. He does not have, let's say, the work hours of Newt Gingrich. ... Every Republican I talk to says that John Boehner, by five or six at night, you can see him at bars."

A Boehner spokesman quickly denied Scarborough's claims in an email to Politico, writing that "Boehner grew up with 11 brothers and sisters and his dad owned a bar, but the only time he’s ‘around town’ these days is to raise money for our House Republican team." Read on...