LOOK OUT, REV!
Sharpton's aides are in the hot seat. Seems the Feds are probing the Rev's finances.
Of course, Al... never one to miss an opportunity to mouth-off or play victim, now paints himself with the same brush as Martin Luther King, Jr. by proclaiming that all civil rights leaders are hassled this way. And, like all good narcissistic types - he denies denies denies any wrongdoing.
Rev, you gonna get Twana Brawley or maybe Steven Pagonis to come to court as a character witness if you get subpoenaed?
Sharpton blasts feds over finance probe, says it's retaliatory
Less than a month after the Rev. Al Sharpton led a Washington march to demand federal action in the Jena Six case, several of his associates and employees found federal agents at their doors with subpoenas for records related to his finances, he said.
To him, the timing was no coincidence. With a grand jury gearing up to consider possible tax fraud charges against him, Sharpton is accusing federal authorities of harassing him in retaliation for his fiery brand of racial activism.
"Every major civil rights leader I can think of, from Martin Luther King to Adam Clayton Powell, has had to face this kind of harassment," Sharpton said at a news conference Thursday at the Harlem headquarters of his National Action Network. "I am certainly not in their league, but I certainly expect that will become my lot."
A Brooklyn grand jury is scheduled to begin hearing evidence in an FBI and Internal Revenue Service probe at the end of the month, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed on Thursday.
The person, who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly but spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Sharpton, his nonprofit civil rights organization and various businesses he runs face possible tax evasion and campaign finance charges stemming from his 2004 presidential bid.
The U.S. attorney's office for Brooklyn declined to comment Thursday.
At the news conference, Sharpton and his lawyer, Michael Hardy, said eight to 10 Sharpton associates, employees and former employees _ including one man who worked for him 12 years ago _ received subpoenas Wednesday asking them to produce documents tied to Sharpton's finances. Sharpton, 53, was not subpoenaed, they added.
Sharpton, who lives in Manhattan, called the timing of the investigation suspicious. He noted that it came just weeks after he led marchers to the Department of Justice headquarters to call for federal intervention in the Jena Six case and better enforcement of hate crimes.
Charges against six black students accused of attacking a white student in Jena, La., have led to demonstrations around the nation, including the one Sharpton organized in Washington on Nov. 16. Activists have alleged that local authorities in Louisiana were prosecuting blacks more harshly than whites.
Sharpton also suggested that the probe may be intended to dilute his influence in the 2008 presidential campaign. He said he was on the verge of taking a more visible role in the campaign and hinted that he may endorse a candidate on a scheduled visit to South Carolina next week.
He criticized the way federal investigators served the subpoenas, apparently delivering them at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. Among those served was Rachel Noerdlinger, his communications director.
"I am a single mother," Noerdlinger said, "and to have my door banged on at 6 in the morning was alarming to my son and me, and it was an apparent scare tactic that will only backfire."
Sharpton agreed in 2005 to repay the government $100,000, plus interest, for taxpayer money he received during his failed effort to win the Democratic presidential nomination the year before, though he denied wrongdoing.
The Federal Election Commission had determined that he spent more of his own money on the campaign than the qualifications for federal matching funds allow.
In 1993, Sharpton pleaded guilty to not filing a state income tax return several years before.
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