Giffords' Hubby Has Bone to Pick With Boehner

Mark Kelly is giving John Boehner a verbal slap over his less-than-heartfelt response to Gabby Giffords' shooting. In Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, Mark Kelly writes that Boehner never quite bothered to visit Giffords, even though he was in Houston, where Giffords was recovering, for the NCAA Final Four Tournament. "Considering that she was a member of Congress and he was the highest-ranking member, we thought he’d ask to visit Gabby or at least give a call to see how she was doing," Kelly writes.

Instead, all they got was "a simple get-well card he’d sent a few days after Gabby was injured," Kelly writes. The Hill notes that Boehner was also criticized for not attending a memorial service after the shootings. But Kelly acknowledges one warm moment: Giffords hugging Boehner when she returned to Congress for the debt ceiling vote. A GOP aide came to Boehner's defense, saying the House speaker's staff has remained in touch with Giffords' staff all year. (More Gabrielle Giffords stories.)