Candidate Thompson In Jeff City
JEFFERSON CITY (AP) - Prospective presidential candidate Fred Thompson will be speaking Friday at a convention of Missouri bankers. But the general public and media won't be allowed. A spokesman for the Missouri Bankers Association says Thompson's paid speech was arranged last year through a business that books prominent speakers. The banker's group says the closed speech was part of the contract. Thompson is a former Republican U.S. senator who is perhaps best known for his acting role on NBC's "Law and Order." A spokesman for Thompson says the speech was a business arrangement made before there was much consideration of his potential entry into the 2008 presidential race.