Tom Byrne is a regular in studio member of the Saturday morning Warren Shaw Show on 980WCAP. This week, Byrne spoke about his involvement in an ongoing Federal investigation that was reported in the Lowell Sun earlier this week. Here are some of the things that Byrne and Warren Shaw had to say:

[Tom Byrne] First of all Warren, I want to thank you and Mr. Smidt and Mr. Poulten for allowing me to be here. It’s their radio station and your show. I have generated some controversy which I’m extremely embarrassed about and the situation is something that I have been advised rather strongly that I cannot comment about directly. But I just wanted to come in; to keep my normal lifestyle. I’m around; I’m about. This whole thing will play itself out. I’m sure everything will work out well. Being me, I wanted to come in here and debate various and sundry things. I’ve been told extremely strongly that I cannot. But I still felt I should come in, number one, to apologize to people that I consider to be friends that have been subject to innuendos and stories that in my estimation, I have to say that, are not true. I apologize profusely to my mother and kids all of which got those letters. There must be bunches of letters around and about because I talk to bunches and bunches of people. Or I did. The phone hasn’t been ringing lately. . . But I feel bad. I want to defend people who shouldn’t have to be defended. I want to defend myself and can’t. I intend to go fully through the process – although I don’t have a choice. I’m going through the process whether I like it or not. And to be as cooperative as I can be with people who decide that they might want to ask questions. All I can tell the people who have listened or are listening who find some of my inanities at least close to being entertaining, that after this is over. I’ll be around. I’ll be here. . . . . . I would be remiss if I didn’t show up here. In my mind, I didn’t do anything wrong. But I cannot talk about it and won’t.

[Warren Shaw] Those who have followed my career know that I was in politics for many, many years and I know a good guy from a bad guy and the legislative delegation which in my opinion has had their reputations tarnished by what was printed in the paper this week, I know all four of these men. Not a one of them are either dishonest enough or stupid enough to involve themselves in something like that. And I think that’s important. I went on that stupid Topix thing that the paper has and there are people there talking about what in my opinion are some of the most respectable people in the community and you cannot get involved with politics and not have somebody at some point try to do something and I’m not talking about Tom Byrne. I’m talking about somebody that may be trying to influence you. Whether you like it or not, it is legal for the former senator [presumably he’s referring to Joe Tully here who once served in the state senate] to be employed by Mr. Paley to try to influence the situation. Where it’s a real problem is where there’s money exchanged. And so these things go on and the most honest of public officials would have been written about in the same fashion as the Lowell delegation was. . . . . I feel badly that four people that I consider to be some of the best of Lowell have been cast in that dark light. . . . . I think the unfairness part of the Lowell Sun story was the way it was left in terms of the delegation. It may sell papers and it may grab people’s attention but I don’t know what you do to return the excellent reputations of the persons who represent Lowell in the legislature after a story like that.