A videotape of Al Sharpton making a possibly shady fund-raising agreement was what sparked the federal investigation into his finances that had FBI agents handing out subpoenas to Sharpton's National Action Network staff like Christmas cards last week.

[On the tape] Sharpton offered to help Philadelphia fund-raiser Ronald A. White win a multimillion-dollar business deal, if White helped him raise $50,000 for politics.

White offered $25,000. "If you bring my guys up on this hedge fund, and I have the right conversation," White said, "I'll give you what you need."

"Cool," Sharpton said…

In an interview yesterday, Sharpton said there is "absolutely nothing illegal" about tying business deals to fund-raising because he is not a public official. "The tapes vindicate me," Sharpton said. "They show that I did not talk about bribing a public official or paying money under the table."

Sharpton said the federal investigation has been going nowhere for three years and was only brought out publicly because he says people want to shut him up after the highly-publicized protests in Jena and DC. [PI]