By Lydia Warren and Associated Press Reverend Al Sharpton said today that reports that he was a 'rat' who spied on New York Mafia figures for the FBI in the 1980s is old news, while insisting that as he did the right thing he wasn't really a rat at all. 'Rats are usually people that were with other rats,' he said in the animated press briefing. 'I was not and am not a rat, because I wasn't with the rats. I'm a cat. I chase rats.' Sharpton had called a news conference at his Harlem headquarters to talk about a story The Smoking Gun website posted on Monday claiming he had recorded conversations with mobsters.
@highlight
Rev. Al Sharpton called a press conference on Tuesday to defend himself against reports that he was formerly an informant for the FBI
@highlight
The Smoking Gun reported that he was recruited by the FBI to record conversations with mobsters in the 1980s
@highlight
Reports called him a 'rat' - but Sharpton took great offense to the term, saying: 'I was not and am not a rat. I'm a cat. I chase rats'
@highlight
He also denied meeting some of the mobsters, including Vincent 'Chin' Gigante, who pretended he was mad by wearing his bathrobe in the street
@highlight
'I don't walk around with guys that wear pajamas!' he insisted
said he went to the @placeholder after he was threatened by mobsters working in