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EUR EXCLUSIVE: Wesley Snipes Responds to Mo'Kelly Report.
*The following is the official response of Wesley Snipes to The Mo'Kelly Report of June 12, 2007.
To his credit, he emailed it personally and should be noted. It has not been edited in any form and it is being made available in its entirety.
If Mo'Kelly is anything, he is fair and grants equal access to any alternative viewpoint in a discussion.
From here, you as readers may make your own determinations and draw your own conclusions. -- Mo'K.
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Lee Bailey
Publisher, Eurweb.com
Dear Mr. Bailey,
Enclosed is a response to a column written by Morris Kelly that was published on your web site on June 12, 2007. The following letter is submitted by the copyright holder, Wesley Snipes. I hereby grant permission for the following letter to run on the web site www.eurweb.com, and only on www.eurweb.com.
Brother Kelly:
I read your article about my tax indictments. Laughed at parts, shook my head at others. Normally I would not respond to this type of entertainment story, but you appear to be the first African-American writer to address the issue emotionally.
Not knowing you personally, commenting about your morals, manners, methods or mindset would be un-Christian and bear false witness. So I'll respond in the ancient way, by asking questions and stating a couple of facts. I pray this limited response will give you and others of like-mind better information to form your opinions, and avoid being more "frogs fattened for snakes."
Perhaps you've never had someone you trusted steal from you or prove themselves deceitful or dishonest.
Your article makes it appear as though your belief in my guilt is crystal-clear, and any perceived errors or acts of wrong-doing committed by the other men or the government are undeserving of further consideration.
Mr. Kelly, you take me to task in your column when you say that I've "yet to deny wrong doing and Snipes has yet to come out and proclaim his innocence."
In the American justice system, I believe a defendant does not plead "I'm innocent." In the last couple of centuries, the burden of proof has been on the prosecution to prove guilt.
My plea was "not guilty." It was entered as a response to the indictment months ago. You can look it up.
Your comments on the motion that I filed that pertained to selective prosecution on account of race are over-simplified. I suggest that you take the time to read the motion in its entirety - the motion is a matter of public record - before you attempt to accurately comment on it.
On the subject of the issue of selective prosecution, how versed are you in the history of issues concerning black folk like me? Are you aware that, from a historical perspective, wealthy and influential blacks have been targeted and their reputations ruined in the course of tax prosecutions similar to mine? I suggest you look up the history surrounding Jack Johnson, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr., Paul Robeson, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King Jr. and James Brown.
Mr. Kelly, in your column, you implied that I once relied on a strategy of holding back $12 million from the Internal Revenue Service. I have not been indicted for withholding $12 million. Your implication, Mr. Kelly, to the contrary, is absolutely false.
You make a number of allegations in your column about my alleged relationships with professional counsel. All professionals such as myself regularly hire and/or employ professionals who give advice on a wide variety of legal and tax issues -- advice that is then relied upon.
Understand this. Mr. Kelly: Contrary to what was reported in the media, I never was a "fugitive" in October 2006. The State Department always knew exactly where I was. The idea that I was somehow "hiding out" in Africa would only be believed by those with an insatiable appetite for "celebrities on the run stories," or maybe a brother who had never been to Africa. This may be a newsflash to some, but Africans watch movies and DVDs and know Wesley Snipes when they see him. Also, Africans don't all look alike, and I doubt if I could ever just disappear in Africa.
Mr. Kelly, the legal minds working with me are far from amateurs reduced to latching on to a convenient cliché like "it's because he's black" to deal with the issues in my tax indictment. The road ahead will be challenging; however, I believe in the end I will be victorious.
Be well, stay strong,
Dr. Wesley Snipes
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