“Reverend Al Sharpton revealed he was a confidential FBI informant for years and helped take down mob bosses, music executives, and more.”
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Executive summary
Public reporting shows that Al Sharpton cooperated with FBI and NYPD organized‑crime investigators in the 1980s and is identified in agency files as “Confidential Informant No. 7,” with documents indicating he recorded conversations and provided leads used to obtain wiretaps against members of the Genovese crime family [1] [2]. Sharpton has long insisted he was a cooperating witness or a victim seeking protection, not a “rat,” and disputes some characterizations of the extent and purpose of his work with law enforcement [3] [4].
1. The documentary record: who called him CI‑7 and what that meant
Published Freedom of Information Act records and court materials assembled by The Smoking Gun and summarized by major outlets show an FBI/NYPD task force labeled a source “CI‑7,” whom agents described as supplying reliable information that contributed to wiretap applications and surveillance of Genovese family social clubs and phones in the 1980s [1] [2]. Those accounts say the source carried a briefcase modified with recording devices, was paid small sums by agents, and taped conversations with mob figures — details repeated across Time, The New York Times and other reporting [3] [2].
2. What Sharpton has admitted and what he denies
Sharpton publicly acknowledged cooperating with law enforcement beginning in the early‑to‑mid 1980s and said he recorded some conversations when his life was threatened by people in the music business, but he has insisted repeatedly that he never considered himself an informant “flipped” by the government and disputes the breadth of the Smoking Gun’s characterizations [3] [4]. In press comments he framed his actions as self‑defense and as cooperation to address drug flow and exploitation of Black artists, not as betraying civil‑rights allies [5] [4].
3. The link to mob prosecutions and to Don King or music executives
Reporting credits information from the CI‑7 material with helping secure electronic surveillance that targeted leaders and associates of the Genovese crime family, and earlier accounts have tied Sharpton’s cooperation to investigations touching figures such as boxing promoter Don King and music‑industry actors accused of exploiting Black performers [3] [5]. Sources vary on specificity: The Smoking Gun and contemporaneous press cite use of leads in wiretap affidavits against organized‑crime targets [1] [2], while other outlets note longstanding ambiguity about whether Sharpton’s role directly “brought down” major bosses or was one piece among many in broader investigations [3] [6].
4. Competing narratives and possible agendas in the reporting
There is a clear divide between outlets emphasizing archival FBI documents to portray Sharpton as a paid, active informant (The Smoking Gun, summarized by The New York Times and others) and Sharpton’s defense that his cooperation was limited, protective, and has been sensationalized [1] [2] [4]. Critics and partisan commentators have used the revelations to impugn Sharpton’s credibility and political associations; defenders warn the coverage risks criminalizing a Black activist who says he sought to protect communities and artists from exploitation [7] [8]. The primary sources observed by reporters came from law‑enforcement files and anonymous task‑force interviews, which can confirm agency labels and actions but leave room for disputes over motive and context [1].
5. What can — and cannot — be concluded from the available reporting
The documented record in FOIA releases and court filings, as published by The Smoking Gun and reported by mainstream outlets, supports that Sharpton acted as a source for organized‑crime investigators in the 1980s and was identified internally as CI‑7; those materials describe recordings and use of his information in wiretap applications [1] [2]. What remains contested in the public record is the exact scope of his contribution (whether he “helped take down” specific bosses or executives as a principal actor versus providing one of several leads), his characterization of his role as victim‑cooperator rather than a formal informant, and the degree to which later accounts may overstate or politicize those activities [3] [4] [9]. Reporting here is limited to the documents and interviews available; it cannot definitively resolve Sharpton’s subjective state of mind or every causal link between his cooperation and individual prosecutions absent additional court findings or direct agency confirmation beyond the cited records [1] [2].