[Steeltrap]

From "Page Six," the New York Post's gossip column:

THE Rev. Al Sharpton has stolen the Rev. Jesse Jackson's woman - well, one of his women.
In the latest salvo between the battling activists, Sharpton invited Karin Stanford - Jackson's former mistress and the mother of his 2-year-old love child, Ashley - to the private party for the opening of Sharpton's National Action Network's West Coast office. Not only did Stanford attend, but she took the opportunity to backhand her ex, telling guests that Sharpton is "the only civil rights leader I respect and support."

"She made her presence known," an attendee of the Los Angeles event tells newsmax.com.

A source close to both Jackson and Stanford was stunned to hear the news, telling PAGE SIX's Ian Spiegelman, "I've never seen her attack Jesse. She's been straight-up with him through the whole thing and I haven't seen a lot of animosity."

A rep for the National Action Network confirmed Stanford's attendance, but downplayed Sharpton's coup, telling us, "There was no meeting between [Sharpton] and Karin that I know of," although they spoke briefly.

The incident was the most recent flashpoint in the War Between the Revs, with Sharpton and Jackson each vying to be crowned the nation's most influential liberal black leader.

"I do feel it's time that I share the stage with [Jackson] as an equal," Sharpton told New York magazine. "But his ego is bigger than mine, so he is having a hard time giving me my space."

Sharpton, who recently announced his bid for the 2004 presidential election, also complained, "Jesse has also lost some of his instincts for issues."

Stanford's sting must be extra painful for Jackson, since his own presidential aspirations were blown out of the water by their affair.

As The Post reported, Jackson gave up his run for the 2000 election because he feared scrutiny of his candidacy would expose his 41/2-year affair with Stanford, who had run the Washington office of his Rainbow-PUSH coalition.

"I didn't want to do anything to hurt him or the movement," Stanford said last summer, when asked why she'd kept mum for so long. She also described their relationship as "warm and loving." In fact, reports surfaced that Jackson intended to divorce his wife and marry Stanford after their romance was revealed last January by the National Enquirer.

Recent events might explain Stanford's sudden change of heart. After almost a year of tough negotiations, she and Jackson finally settled their child support arrangements in late November.