Now why isn't Sharpton being investigated by IRS? They harassed me over $50.00 once, and I ended up in Court of Appeals - we settled for $35.00 (compromised, last section of Federal Income Code - big shots use this one)....... IRS afraid of Clinton here? Because Hill and Sharpton are such buddy buddy birds of feather? Saba Advertise Your Banner Here December 21, 2000 $15,000 Value: Win Two FREE Tickets to the Super Bowl � �Home � Columnists � Late Night Jokes � Forum � Archives �News Alerts � U.S. News Links � U.K. News � Int'l� News Links � MoneyNews �Contact Us � NewsMax Store � Classifieds � Get Your Site Listed With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff For the story behind the story... Thursday, Dec. 21, 2000 4:41 p.m. EST Rev. Al's Curious Finances The Rev. Al Sharpton, a key political ally of Senator-elect Hillary Clinton, lives what looks like a fairly lavish personal lifestyle - dressing in expensive suits, paying top-dollar tuition for his two daughters at a Brooklyn private school, and traveling the country whenever the need arises for one of his patented "No Justice, No Peace" rallies. One would hardly know the good reverend is practically broke - or so he maintained in a deposition earlier this month, a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times Thursday. Sharpton says he can't afford to pay the $65,000 judgment against him in a defamation lawsuit brought by Dutchess County, N.Y., prosecutor Stephen Pagones. The pompadoured preacher had smeared Pagones while championing the cause of Tawana Brawley, a black teen-ager who fabricated rape charges against the prosecutor and others in 1986. To prove his impoverishment, Sharpton had to detail his finances to Pagones' lawyer, Garry Bolnick, earlier this month. Turns out that just about all the Rev. Sharpton's worldy goods were either given to him or are on loan from his business operation, "Rev. Als [no apostrophe] Productions." Here's one of the more amusing excerpts from Sharpton's deposition. BOLNICK: Rev. Sharpton, how many suits do you own? SHARPTON: Well, you would have to - I debate whether I own it because a lot of that is business expense, but I have access to about 10 or 12. BOLNICK: And you say that you - you say they are business expenses. Are they paid for by someone other than yourself? SHARPTON: Some. BOLNICK: Are they paid for by the National Action Network [Sharpton's Harlem-based civil rights operation]? SHARPTON: No. BOLNICK: Are they paid for by Rev. Als Productions? SHARPTON: Maybe a couple. BOLNICK: Any other wearing apparel of yours paid for by other parties? SHARPTON: Yeah, I would say half my suits are gifts. The suit I have on, a guy gave me. BOLNICK: Have you ever purchased a suit for yourself? SHARPTON: Not lately. Other items Sharpton seems to possess without actually owning: a stereo, a TV, cars, silverware and assorted other middle-class accoutrements. Sharpton told Bolnick that 99 percent of his salary from his National Action Network gig (about $70,000 a year) is immediately invested in Rev. Als Productions. Perhaps that's why he hasn't filed any personal income tax returns since 1998. His daughters' $30,000 Polyprep Country Day School tuition is paid for by the same company. He claims Rev. Als was incorporated with New York state, but he can't remember when and New York has no record of its existence. Sharpton supplements his income with $300 bi-monthly "expense" checks from his National Action Network radio show - plus donations he gets from his "preachings." "They pass the plate and give it to me," Sharpton told Bolnick about the income he calls "love offerings." "I could get $1; I could get $1,000," says the rotund Rev. Despite his unorthodox financial arrangements, the Rev. Sharpton seems to have escaped the scrutiny of the Clinton IRS. Lucky for him his name isn't Jones, Flowers, Dale, Broaddrick or Gracen. Printer Friendly Version Inside Cover Stories Zogby: Gore Leads Hillary for 2004 Is Clinton Pulling the Plug on the Dow's Plunge Protection Team? Rev. Al's Curious Finances Poll: Don't Pardon Clinton or His Whitewater Cronies That Unbelievable Democrat Turnout Hillary's Book Set to Open Old Wounds for Foster's Widow Welcome to Tennessee Those GOP 'Thugs' in Miami Were Reporters Clinton: Blame Elian, Not Monica, for Gore's Loss; Jones Case a 'Fraud' Wash Post Digs Through Phone Records in 'Get Harris' Dirt Quest Clinton Impeachment Disappears Down Media Memory Hole More Inside Cover Stories � Contact Us � Financial News �� UK News �� Late Night Jokes � Forum �� Article Archives � Employment Ops. All Rights Reserved � NewsMax.com
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