NEW YORK (NNPA) - For several days now, the New York Post has been on a relentless campaign to dig up dirt on the Rev. Al Sharpton. A shovel load was unearthed last weekend when the paper charged that many of the reverend’s National Action Network chapters have failed to register in states that require non-profits to file public records.

These allegations followed closely on the heels of those by Post writers who claimed that several large corporations donated thousands of dollars to Sharpton and NAN after being told they would be threatened by accusations of racist practices.

Sharpton shrugged off the charges about his chapters not being registered, seemingly more concerned about getting his lines right June 30 during a taping of his host remarks for “Murder in Black and White,” a new series from TV One directed by Keith Beauchamp that will examine cold cases from the civil rights era. “For our part,” Sharpton said at the end of each of the segments that are slated to air sometime this fall and emphasizing the show’s intent, “we will continue to apply heat to these cold cases until justice is served.”

Meanwhile, the embattled minister appears unperturbed by the heat from the Post, which may be something he’s grown accustomed to given the tension between him and the paper over the years.

Then there was the wave of new subpoenas that began back in December when several of his former and current employees were asked to surrender their financial records, particularly those in connection with NAN.

It was nothing but another “fishing expedition,” Sharpton said, suggesting that it was evident the first round of subpoenas had revealed no wrongdoing. “I think that this is a clear, transparent political investigation, because if they started an investigation in December, why would they be subpoenaing people after December unless they are on a fishing expedition?” he told the press.

Sharpton was even more emphatic and expansive when dealing with the charge that a “shakedown” had been applied to major corporations to get them to fork over large sums of donations.

“As I have stated repeatedly, we will never be silenced or intimidated by political zealots in law enforcement or journalism who clearly operate on agendas rather than facts, and we welcome the IRS, New York Post or any other entity to look into our relationships with corporations because they will find corporations generally give to National Action Network events where they purchase tables and promote their corporations’ particular brand or products, and some highlight what they are doing in the areas of civil rights and economic fairness,” Sharpton said in a statement. “NAN does not give complimentary entry to participants since we have event costs and corporations benefit from attending our events and outlining to our delegates from around the country what they do in the area of civil rights.”

In none of the Post stories is there any indication from the corporations that they had been shaken down or threatened with demonstrations if they didn’t go along with Sharpton or NAN’s demands.

“In fact,” Sharpton asserted, “Brenda Scott of Macy’s joined our board at the suggestion of her superiors to help us continue to monitor our corporate agreements in the areas of personnel, diversity of board members and contracts to minority and women entrepreneurs.”

“There has been no shakedown,” Sharpton boomed recently at his weekly NAN rally, “but there has been a shake up.”

An extensive statement from NAN noted further that “the Post, in its typical fashion, omitted facts that contradicted the article’s shakedown premise. Most notably, [Isabel] Vincent [the reporter] did not include one example of when Reverend Sharpton and NAN spoke out critically against companies after they had contributed to NAN, such as corporations from the music industry whose offices were marched on for their promoting indecent music lyrics or criticizing Pepsi for its use of a rapper in an ad campaign whose lyrics were offensive, or Comcast, who had a reporter who made an offensive statement. In addition, notwithstanding the fact that NBC has long sponsored NAN events and has been honored in the past, Reverend Sharpton led the charge against them to fire Don Imus.”

And Imus may be in for another round of protests after his remarks about Adam “Pacman” Jones, the controversial defensive back of the Dallas Cowboys. Hearing that Jones had been arrested several times, Imus asked, “What color is he?” When told he was Black. “There you go. Now we know.”

Sharpton reacted promptly, stating: “It has been reported to me that statements were made by Mr. Imus this morning and National Action Network has monitored his show since his return. I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes. Any use of stereotypes is always counterproductive. We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part as we did in April of last year,” Sharpton said.

Whether on the defensive or the offensive, or hosting a radio or television show, Sharpton cannot escape the heat.

This story comes special from the Amsterdam News.