Jesse Jackson will amend group's tax return

Jackson defends the financial practices of his various civil-rights groups on Thursday     ON THE NEWS Mike Boettcher: The background on Jackson's revelations

In this story: Jackson denies personal gain from groups Alleged campaign against Jackson RELATED STORIES, SITES

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Thursday he would amend tax returns by his organizations which omitted a $35,000 payment to a staff worker with whom he had an extramarital affair.

He called the omission a mistake and said the money paid to the woman was severance pay.

The news conference was the first time Jackson had released financial records for his groups, including the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Citizenship Education Fund.

Jackson defended his groups' operations as sound and rejected suggestions that he uses threats of economic boycotts or protests to pressure companies to contribute to his organizations.

Jackson denies personal gain from groups

Jackson also disputed accusations that he uses donations to his groups for his personal gain.

"Our record of service, our financial records reflect discipline, dignity, integrity and results and legal propriety," Jackson said.

Jackson conceded that 1999 tax returns filed in connection with the operation of the Citizenship Education Fund failed to reflect $35,000 paid to former staff member Karin Stanford. In January, Jackson revealed that he is the father of a child with Stanford.

Jackson said their relationship had nothing to do with the tax return.

Various newspapers and media outlets, including The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, have probed the organizations' finances in recent months, questioning whether companies donate money to Jackson's groups to avert bad publicity or boycotts.

Media have raised questions about Jackson's view of corporate mergers, suggesting that Jackson has softened his criticism after his groups won donations. His groups raised $17 million last year, according to an internal audit published in The Chicago Tribune.

Jackson insisted his groups are only looking to promote minority businesses and have found more opportunities for minorities in corporate America. He said his groups tone down criticism when he feels progress is being made.

"It is sinister to suggest that our change is based upon anything except our original objective, which is to open up, open up, closed doors," Jackson said. Later, he put it this way: "There's been some suggestion by some [that] the companies relate to us out of fear. They relate to us out of hope."

Alleged campaign against Jackson

The longtime civil-rights leader was peppered with questions at the 90-minute news conference. In response, Jackson suggested that he is the victim of a campaign by his political enemies, and he called one organization that filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service an "extremist right-wing group."

"Their interest is to disrupt, discredit and destroy," Jackson said of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group. "Those are their politics."

Before the press conference, Dane Rene, a spokesman for the center, said the Citizenship Education Fund should lose its tax-exempt status, charging that it failed to follow laws that guide the conduct of such groups.

Jackson's group, said Rene, "has been operating for the private benefit of his family and friends."

Jackson was accompanied at the news conference by various minority business leaders who praised him as committed to civil rights and not interested in any personal gain.

Jackson is an employee of CNN. His show, "Both Sides with Jesse Jackson," is on hiatus, a spokeswoman for CNN said.

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Rainbow PUSH Coalition

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