Here's what NBC is reporting Fred Thompson said yesterday about helping Chief Justice John Roberts through his confirmation process:

The president called me up and asked me to help shepherd judge John Roberts' nomination through the Senate confirmation process. I was honored that I got that call. I was honored that he thought I had enough friends on the Democratic side that they wouldn't run me out of town!

We fought hard against each other, but I always thought that we had mutual respect. And that's what it takes. Even though the other party controlled the Judiciary committee, we got some votes there. For a good, sound, what I would call conservative justice.

But of course Republicans controlled the Senate in 2005 and thus controlled the Judiciary committee. Since Thompson was part of the confirmation process, this looks like a genuine slip of the tongue, except that, as NBC's Joel Seidman points out, it's just one more instance that Thompson's opponents can use against him.