U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah gets pass from Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC

Longtime U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah continues to feel the heat in his hometown of Philadelphia, six days after a former top political adviser admitted in federal court last week to lying to conceal an illegal $1 million campaign loan.

Fattah was grilled Tuesday morning on the city's well-known black radio station, 900AM-WURD, by his onetime mayoral campaign spokesman, Solomon Jones, during the station's morning rush hour show. He refused to discuss any potential relation the case has to him. Fattah has not been charged in the case involving former adviser Gregory Naylor.

Rumors have also begun swirling already inside the city's political power construct about possible replacements to fill his congressional seat should he step down.

But apparently, the Rev. Al Sharpton and his news producers at MSNBC — where Sharpton hosts a show called "PoliticsNation" — are a few news cycles behind.

Fattah appeared Tuesday evening on Sharpton's left-leaning program for a segment that examined President Barack Obama's efforts to raise the federal minimum wage.

During the nearly nine-minute discussion between Sharpton and Fattah, the congressman's current predicament didn't come up. Fattah has not responded to attempts by the Daily News and the Inquirer to speak about Naylor's guilty plea in the political corruption case.

His spokeswoman told the Inquirer, "Congressman Fattah is committed to his work on education, brain research, and jobs, all of which has helped and continues to help millions of Americans. He is committed to continue this work for the next ten years in Congress."

On Sharpton's show, Fattah talked extensively about the minimum wage as a crucial issue in the upcoming November mid-term elections.

"If they get control of the U.S. Senate, they are going to make sure these issues that are important to the majority of Americans never see the light of day. That's why the public has to do its part," he said, referring to Republican efforts on issues including minimum wage, unemployment benefits and student loans.

Moments later, as Sharpton thanked him for appearing, Fattah smiled and said, "Thank you, Rev."