Threats against the Capitol and members of Congress

House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that the government “would never have known” that a Cincinnati area man was allegedly plotting this week to wage jihad on the U.S. Capitol with semi-automatic weapons were it not for a wiretap ordered by a secret foreign intelligence court.

Boehner’s statement added intrigue and a tinge of politics to Wednesday’s arrest in Ohio of 20-year-old Christopher Lee Cornell, shortly after he allegedly bought two M-15 rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition with plans to spray bullets on congressional officials.

The Republican leader’s comments also seemed to reflect rising unease in Washington, with the Islamic State and Al-Qaida seemingly in open competition to whip up attacks on western nations.

Boehner suggests NSA wiretap led investigators to Ohio jihadist