Rev. Al Sharpton Under Federal Probe …
December 14, 2007
Overshadowed by and floating under the mess of the baseball steroid scandal, Rev. Al Sharpton attempts to fend off federal agents who now circle in, raiding his non-profit and for-profit operations while issuing subpoenas to current and former associates. The investigation appears rather extensive; this has been in play for some time. Reports from the NY Daily News (eager for this moment to arrive):
Teams of federal agents swooped down on up to 10 close associates of the Rev. Al Sharpton Wednesday, demanding the flamboyant clergyman’s financial records since 2001.
Sharpton’s former chief of staff said he was roused at his Harlem home about 6:30 a.m. by two FBI agents who handed him a subpoena to bring the records to a federal grand jury the day after Christmas.
Several employees of Sharpton’s National Action Network also got wakeup subpoenas to testify before the Brooklyn panel, the rabble-rousing reverend’s lawyer said.
The FBI and IRS are investigating whether Sharpton improperly misstated the amount of money he raised during his 2004 White House run to illegally obtain federal matching funds, a source familiar with the probe said.
This isn’t exactly the best year for Sharpton, attempting to step up his game amid Obama’s hype. A recent column in the Washington Post about his relevancy triggered more questions about just that. And, he ended up not running for President after all. Will be interesting to see how this probe gets spun and what direction he’ll take – he can easily claim that he’s being “targeted” in response to his recent advocacy against the Justice Department. How the African American electorate will react will be interesting too. At this stage, there’s a lot of “not again” heads shaking, many privately expressing anxiety over too many Black political figures getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
Sharpton is saying he’s running in 2012. But, the bottom line is: why investigate Sharpton? Isn’t that something like … a waste of time. It’s not like he even registered on the primary radar in 2004; he barely registered in national polls. He didn’t even make a real dent in the Democratic party’s direction. Probing him adds insult to the injury of an embarrasing electoral performance. That being the case, Sharpton’s claim of vengeance by the DoJ might very well resonate.
