Tried to involve an MP in crooked deals (7)
I believe the answer is:
sampled
'tried' is the definition.
('sample' can be a synonym of 'try')
'an mp in crooked deals' is the wordplay.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'crooked' indicates anagramming the letters.
'deals' with letters rearranged gives 'saled'.
'mp' inserted inside 'saled' is 'SAMPLED'.
'to involve' is the link.
(Other definitions for sampled that I've seen before include "tried" , "Tasted" .)