Petrelis Files

Chris Matthews' $1,500 Donation to Rep. Jim Moran

Chris Matthews, the blowhard host of MSNBC's "Hardball" show, like a number of other journalists, has contributed money to a politician.

According to Federal Election Commission records, back in the early 1990s when he worked for Gannett News, Matthews donated a total of $1,500 to Rep. Jim Moran, Democrat of Virginia.

Last March, during the Teri Schiavo media circus, Matthews had Moran on his show to talk about the case, and, not surprisingly, Matthews failed to disclose his contributions to Moran. Here's an excerpt from the transcript of that show:

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.

How did the Terri Schiavo case, a family conflict about the fate of a very sick woman, wind up on Capitol Hill?

U.S. Congressman Jim Moran of Virginia—he‘s a Democrat—says the Schiavos have become political pawns. Congressman Jeff Miller, a Republican of Florida, where this legal battle has raged for 15 years, practically, says Terri Schiavo‘s civil rights must be defended. [...]

It's possible Matthews' contributions to Moran weren't because he necessarily likes the guy's politics. The donations may have been made because they're longstanding friends, a fact revealed by a third friend, David Ticchi, in a column last year about the soft side of Matthews:

"I used to twist them into a pretzel," said Ticchi, referring to Matthews and another friend, Jim Moran, who is now a Democratic congressman from Virginia. "It was just guys horsing around."

Chris Matthews: Just another journalist who has given money to a politician. A fact that should be disclosed if Moran is a guest on "Hardball."