*Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate that the Rev. Al Sharpton and his various businesses owe Uncle Sam nearly $1.5 million in overdue taxes and associated penalties.
Sharpton's own tax debts include $365,558 owed in New York City and $931,397 to federal, according to a lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service last spring. His for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owes the state another $175,962 in delinquent taxes.
As previously reported, the U.S. attorney is also currently investigating his nonprofit group National Action Network. Over the past year, Sharpton's lawyers and the staff have been negotiating with the federal government over the size of his debt, which they dispute. The group has also been trying to pay off tens of thousands of dollars it owes for failing to properly maintain workers compensation and unemployment insurance.
Charlie King, the organization's interim executive director, said Sharpton has started paying it off but contends that poor record-keeping by the National Action Network led the government to overestimate his tax liability. King said both Sharpton and the group weren't ready for their sudden rise in stature in recent years and had trouble dealing with big jumps in donations and income.
"The infrastructure was trying to keep up with that pace, and it was not a perfect fit," King told the AP on Friday. "The National Action Network may not have been perfect, but nothing was going on that was untoward."
He said the organization has new accountants and a new administrative team, and the group recently finally filed long-overdue tax returns.
Meanwhile, Sharpton continues to brush off the federal investigations as the kind of annoyance that civil rights figures have come to expect from the government.
"Whatever retaliation they do on me, we never stop," he told the AP. "I think that that is why they try to intimidate us."
Speaking of never stopping, Sharpton doesn’t' quite share the same never-say-die attitude when it comes to Sen. Hillary Clinton and her decision to stay in the race to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
“Not dropping out would mean ruining the party,” he told New York 1 television on Thursday night. “I think Barack Obama’s the nominee. I think he’s won. The majority of Democrats have already decided.”
“As you know, I’ve been in the ministry of civil rights all my life, but had dealings with entertainers because of James Brown,” continued Sharpton, who has yet to announce his endorsement. “The worst thing in the world is when an entertainer doesn’t know when the show is over. The audience is gone, the lights are down, you’re getting ready to cut the mics off and you are still on the stage singing. It’s over, it’s all right, it’s over. Come sing another day, but this show is over for Sen. Clinton.”