PrintJune 19, 2008
Al Sharpton on IRS Hot Seat
From our "It couldn't happen to a nicer fella" department...
Several big donors connected with the Rev. Al Sharpton have been served with subpoenas this week as part of an investigation by the IRS into the radical preacher's finances:
Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser and Michelob, confirmed yesterday that it received a federal subpoena in connection to its charitable giving to Sharpton's National Action Network.
"We have received a subpoena and are cooperating with the IRS," the company said in a statement.
Sharpton blasted the subpoena as a "fishing expedition" and said his donors are proud of their financial support. The St. Louis-based corporation donated between $100,000 and $499,000 to NAN in 2007 alone, according to its Web site, but declined further comment about its relationship with Sharpton. A knowledgeable source said several other corporate donors received or would soon receive subpoenas.
Sharpton himself, his business entities and his nonprofit civil-advocacy group owe millions in back taxes, documents show.
The IRS and the US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn have an ongoing probe into Sharpton's finances going back to his 2004 run for president and stewardship of NAN.
Will the IRS finally bring Sharpton down?
This huckster has flim flammed his way across the political landscape for 3 decades. His "National Action Network" has been proven to be a parody of a grass roots organization, raising money not for grass roots action but to keep Sharpton in $1500 suits. His finances are so entangled with other entities that the reason he may not go to jail is that it is impossible to figure out where his philanthropic ventures begin and his personal take ends.
His last run for president was a financial windfall. Sharpton used the money he raised to stay in the finest hotels and resorts. He may not have gotten many votes but he sure had fun trying.
Now the IRS is after him and it should be interesting to see how the slippery Reverend wriggles his way out of this trouble.
