THE SMOKING GUN has tongues wagging this morning after publishing a report that claims Rev. AL SHARPTON, currently a REACH MEDIA syndicated radio host, worked, "as an informant for a joint organized crime task force comprised of FBI agents and NYPD detectives."

The website reports, "a total of eight separate U.S. District Court judges -- presiding in four federal jurisdictions -- signed interception orders that were based on sworn FBI affidavits including information gathered by SHARPTON. The phones bugged as a result of these court orders included two lines in GIGANTE's MANHATTAN townhouse, the home phone of GENOVESE captain DOMINICK 'BALDY DOM' CANTERINO, and the office lines of music industry power MORRIS LEVY, a longtime GENOVESE family associate. The resulting surreptitious recordings were eventually used to help convict an assortment of Mafia members and associates."
The SMOKING GUN adds, "as an 'informant in development,' as one federal investigator referred to SHARPTON, the protest leader was seen as an intriguing prospective source, since he had significant contacts in politics, boxing, and the music industry."
SHARPTON held a press conference YESTERDAY (4/8), confirming the interaction with law enforcement -- but explaining, "I was not and am not a rat because I wasn't with the rats. I'm a cat. I chase rats."