Fox News Channel senior political analyst Brit Hume has called MSNBC host Al Sharpton “a tax cheat and a crook”–a reference to a report by The New York Times Tuesday that Sharpton “has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills,” with the Times discovering more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against Sharpton and his for-profit businesses.
Hume credited the Times for reporting the story, which Sharpton did not reference on his MSNBC show, “Politics Nation”, Tuesday evening. MSNBC had no comment when TVNewser contacted the network.
The New York Observer, however, reports Sharpton alluded to the tax story in a statement:
In his written statement, Mr. Sharpton also made what seems to be a veiled reference to a story in today’s New York Times, which highlighted some $4.5 million Mr. Sharpton and his various groups owe in tax liens.
“We have made mistakes, but we have and will continue to correct those mistakes. Our work has far outweighed our mistakes and I am neither focused on the polls or the attacks,” he said in statement. “I am focused on supporting justice for the families in Ferguson and Staten Island.”