Jail-Bound Tom Delay Defends Himself On 'Hardball'

(By Jon Bershad, Mediaite) - A few days after Tom Delay was sentenced to three years in prison, he showed up on Hardball to defend himself. They also had a fun conversation about gun control that led to Chris Matthews accusing Delay of “laughing like a car bomber.”

Matthews baited Delay by asking if he thought there was any conspiracy that led to his conviction. Delay wouldn’t badmouth the jury, but he maintained his innocence and said there was a problem when a “political hack” like Texas D.A. Ronnie Earle could keep filing charges against him. Matthews also brought up “the movie” (presumably Casino Jack) and said it depicted Delay less like a criminal than like the “dupe” of the criminals. Delay didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of the film. Matthews then asked why he ever spent any time with said criminals, namely Jack Abramoff. Delay didn’t answer, instead reminding Matthews that the FBI had investigated him for five years without finding anything.

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