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Former U.S. House Majority Leader Convicted of Money Laundering

Before he was convicted this week of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay blamed a "rogue" Texas district attorney and Democrats for indicting him so that he would be removed from his powerful position in Congress.

Combative and unbowed, the man who was once known as simply "The Hammer," defended his relationship with disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He said the two remain close friends and spoke just last month, shortly after Abramoff was released from federal prison and moved into a Baltimore halfway house. Asked what the two discussed, DeLay said, "None of your business."

When Ross asked DeLay if any lessons were learned from the Abramoff episode, DeLay replied, "None at all."

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"I praise the Lord, for what's going on here, number one. And number two, I'm not going to blame anybody, this is an abuse of power, it's a miscarriage of justice, and I still maintain that I am innocent, the criminalization of politics undermines our very system, and I'm very disappointed in the outcome....maybe we can get a jury that understands the law."

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