John Boehner

A mysterious photo surfaced on U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner's blog today -- it's of him chatting with Apple CEO Tim Cook in a formal setting.

There's no text to go with the photo, only the caption: "Speaker John Boehner met with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., at the U.S. Capitol today."

There was no formal announcement that the two would meet and it's unclear what was discussed. CNET has contacted Apple for more information and will update this report when we learn more.

Among the list of "Legislative Initiatives" on the speaker's Web site is the "Plan for America's Job Creators." This is how it is described:



The Republican Plan for America's Job Creators is focused on creating a better environment for private-sector job growth by eliminating excessive regulations, addressing high energy prices, fixing the tax code, and more.

It's possible this was one of the meeting's agenda items. Apple has recently been in the news for allegedly avoiding paying billions of dollars in taxes and setting up small offices in states like Nevada in an effort to seek tax law loopholes.

Apple responded to these criticisms by saying that it was one of the biggest taxpayers in the U.S. and that its focus on innovation has created more than 500,000 jobs throughout the country.