Al Sharpton had quite the 60th birthday party. It was held at the midtown Manhattan Four Seasons restaurant, and attended by high-profile Democrats like Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and both New York U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

What happened after the party is now under police investigation, though apparently you would never know it outside of New York City. Al Sharpton’s lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, is being investigated by the NYPD for third-degree rape.

The alleged incident, first reported at NYDailyNews.com, took place at Rubenstein’s swanky E. 64th St. apartment hours after Sharpton’s star-studded party at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan, law enforcement sources told The News.

The alleged victim is a 42-year-old business executive and a “top official” at Sharpton’s National Action Network, according to sources and the civil rights advocacy group.

The accusation is being investigated by the NYPD as a third-degree rape, a law enforcement source said. Such a charge is brought in a case in which a victim is “incapable of consent,” suggesting that the woman may have been intoxicated or passed out during the alleged encounter.

And how is the “Rev” Al handling this accusation against his lawyer and personal friend?

On radio this morning, @TheRevAl said headlines involving Sanford Rubenstein won't affect activism in #EricGarner case. @WBLS1075NYC

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) October 5, 2014

Yes, let nothing stand in the way of the next case. This one is concerning the death of Eric Garner. Sharpton apparently arranged for Rubenstein to represent the Garner family. But Sharpton is now in a dilemma, which he finally commented on.

“The person who has made the accusation is a top official of the National Action Network. So how do I respond, when you have one person who’s a top official who’s been very, very helpful to us, making an accusation against someone who we’ve known and we’ve worked with on several cases?” Sharpton said.

He vowed to press on with the Garner case regardless of what happens to Rubenstein.

“I don’t cut no corners. We do not justify disrespecting women,” he said. “Doesn’t mean you’re guilty, but it does mean if you are, there ain’t no place for that in our community.”

War on women, anyone? (Rubenstein, through his lawyer, says the sex was consensual.)

The media is only just now picking this story up. The New York Daily News has done the most coverage on it, but only now is it getting any other coverage outside of New York City.

Now, imagine that instead of this being “Rev” Al’s lawyer, this was Pat Robertson’s lawyer. Would the media would be quite so silent then? I could practically write the script for how that would sound in every news outlet across America. And you probably could, too. But I’m sure we will all be told that this is a local story and doesn’t deserve national attention. I’m sure the media would give the same cover to Jerry Falwell’s lawyer. Or Franklin Graham’s lawyer. I’m sure of it. (That puff of smoke you just saw was my sarcasm meter – it broke.)

Will the media let Al Sharpton escape guilt by association? Probably. He works in the media, after all. But even Sharpton knows he is in deep on this one. He can either back his longtime lawyer and friend, and keep rolling in that cash from those lawsuits, or he stands with his employee, a woman, someone who reportedly is a “top official” in Sharpton’s own organization, who is making a rape accusation. So, what’s it going to be, “Rev” Al? Money, or your liberal progressive cred? Or perhaps this:

@errollouis I wonder if Sharpton will lean on this woman on his board to take a private settlement? Rubenstein is a money maker for him.

— Charmian Neary (@CharmianNeary) October 5, 2014

The answer is always more money when it comes to Al Sharpton.