Posted on 06/17/2003 9:18:28 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
Sharpton lawyer demands apology for letter written by Michigan lawmaker
By SARAH FREEMAN
The Associated Press
6/17/2003, 9:31 p.m. ET
DETROIT (AP) — An attorney for the Rev. Al Sharpton is demanding an apology from a Michigan lawmaker who penned a letter criticizing the Democratic presidential candidate, saying he has made anti-Semitic statements in the past.
In a letter mailed Tuesday to Rep. Marc Shulman, R-West Bloomfield, attorney Michael A. Hardy called a letter signed by Shulman and 27 other House Republicans on May 1 "outright defamation of character."
The lawmakers signed Shulman's letter asking the Michigan Democratic Party's Black Caucus to rescind its invitation asking Sharpton to be the keynote speaker at its annual awards dinner May 9. The caucus kept Sharpton on as its speaker.
The letter attributed quotes to Sharpton it said illustrated "Rev. Sharpton's lack of empathy and fostering of anti-Semitism, racism and hate." It included footnotes outlining sources for the quotes.
Hardy, of the New York law firm Scheurer & Hardy, P.C., said the quotes and sources previously have been proven to be inaccurate.
"We can demonstrate if we are forced to that all the quotes are either paraphrasing or not precise or accurate quotations of Reverend Sharpton," Hardy said Tuesday. "In some cases, quotes from other persons in a program have been attributed to Reverend Sharpton."
Shulman spokesman Todd Harcek said Tuesday evening that the representative's office had not received Hardy's letter, which was faxed to The Associated Press.
"But we're confident that we're on strong constitutional grounds," Harcek said of Shulman's letter. "Certainly anyone running for president should expect criticism ... and those quotes are in the public domain."
Hardy said Sharpton was placed in a "false light."
"Reverend Sharpton is certainly fair game in the public arena, but it can't be defamatory, and if it is, we intend to defend him on that," he said.
Hardy's letter asks for an apology from Shulman within 30 days of Tuesday or "we will seek to exhaust all legal remedies which may be available to us."
It also referenced a $30 million libel suit filed in 2000 against the Republican National Committee after then-chairman Jim Nicholson wrote a letter to The Washington Post accusing Sharpton of instigating a deadly riot in Brooklyn in 1991 and instigating arson that killed seven people at a Harlem store in 1995.
The matter was settled without payment of money in early 2001 when the RNC released a joint statement with Sharpton in which it expressed regret concerning the comments.
At the May 9 black caucus dinner in Detroit Sharpton called the allegations "absolute lies."
GO...AL...GO
You got my vote for the Demorat canduhdate.
I'm behind ya, bro - series!!!!
LVM
Dear Al,
I'm sorry that you are a blithering idiot. I'm sorry that you don't have the common-sense that God has bestowed upon an five pound sack of roofing nails. I'm sorry that the only people who sounds sillier than you on one of your rhyming fits to the masses are the Mullah Jesse Jackson and maybe Doctor Suess. I'm sorry...really.
Oh, now I get it. He might have said "those blood sucking Jews" but it was probably taken out of context, right?
I hope and pray so many in the Jewish community will see the hatred in the Democratic party for what it is, recognize the Republican's steadfast support for Israel, and leave that wretched party to the homosexuals, abortionists, and communists.
Why the Jews will certainly vote for the viciously anti-semitic democrats is one of life's great mysteries.
I see in much of the party, but I fail to see it in the President's choice to once again delay the movement of our embassy to Jerusalem among other things. I'm reserving judgement and trying to be hopeful.
The matter was settled without payment of money in early 2001 when the RNC released a joint statement ... which it expressed regret concerning the comments.
That letter may have sounded something like this:
Dear Al;
We at the RNC sincerely regret that we wrote a letter in which we confirmed our belief that you were the primary instigator of the recent riot in your fair community. Although these charges and statements have a strong basis of fact, we would rather write this piss ant little note to you rather then pay our lawyers good money to prove you to be the total buffoon that you are.
Again, we deeply regret the truth that we spoke and we wish you the best of luck as you continue on your race baiting endeavors.
Please do continue to preach to your ignorant followers that they bear no responsiblity for their actions. This will only serve to drive hard working intelligent African Americans towards the Republican Party, after all it is our party that beliefs that today's African American has the skills, the knowledge and the drive to succeed. Whereas the Party that you support would rather see today's Blacks on their own 'plantation,' one which may differ from the plantations of the past, but serves the same purpose.
Best Regards
RNC
So that deep wells of sympathy burst up through the craggy surface of the Democratic consciousness, and the faithful set aside any vestiges of prejudice they might be harboring, and vote for him.
Hey, if Mark Shulman needs witnesses who can testify they heard Rev. Al incite to murder, I'm sure that I can find some.
Ain't gonna happen.
West Bloomfield is an extremely wealthy community with a large Jewish population. Rep. Shulman is standing up for his constituency, and they should definately take note of this. If Democrats there are supporting Sharpton, they need a wake-up call!
This from a man who still has not apologized to the police officer that he falsely accused of rape.
..sticks & stones... ??
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