 In March 1971 Mitchell, who was sixty at the time, assaulted Congressman Hale Boggs, 57, to the floor in the men's room of the Statler Hilton during a Congressional dinner; Boggs threatened suit; Mitchell replied he "would meet Boggs in court or in gym".The original argument was due to Congressman Mitchell's objection to the abusive cracks that Boggs was making about the Nixon Administration.Mitchell resided in Evansville, Indiana, where he died December 11, 1979.