Sanders blames Republicans for FBI probe of wife

[anatta]

Sen. Bernie Sanders pointed the finger squarely at Republicans for kicking up a federal probe into allegations his wife fraudulently obtained a loan for the Vermont college she once led, saying Sunday the Republican National Committee is “very excited” about the controversy

The interview marked the 2016 presidential candidate’s latest effort to downplay the FBI investigation, which reportedly is looking at whether Jane Sanders committed fraud to get a $10 million loan for a Burlington College expansion.

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about the case, Sen. Sanders quickly pointed out how the allegations first surfaced.

“I know this will shock the viewers -- the vice-chairman of the Vermont Republican Party who happened to be Donald Trump's campaign manager raised this issue and initiated this investigation,” he said. “… I think what you're looking at is something that [the] Republican National Committee is very excited about.”

The Vermont independent senator adamantly denied that he or his staff ever reached out to the bank in question to approve any loans related to the transaction – and defended his wife.



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“My wife is perhaps the most honest person I know. She did a great job in Burlington College,” Sanders said. “Sadly we are in a moment where parties not only attack public officials, they have to go after wives and children. You know, this is pathetic and that's the way politics is in America today.”

The comments track with others the senator made last week dismissing the probe as a “pathetic” and political attack.

The Republican Sanders referred to in his CNN interview was Brady Toensing, a former Donald Trump presidential campaign official who wrote the original complaint. The complaint, however, raised numerous red flags about the application that might not be so easily ignored, including the sources she listed as proof of the school's ability to repay.

The loan was arranged by Sanders’ wife when she was president of the now-closed college to acquire 33 acres of lakefront property to improve and expand the small, non-traditional school.

People close to the couple, including Sanders' presidential campaign manager Jeff Weaver, have confirmed that the independent senator and his wife each have retained a lawyer in connection with the case.

Jane Sanders, college president from 2004-2011, structured the loan deal in two parts -- a $6.5 million loan from People’s United Bank to buy tax-exempt bonds issued by a state agency that signed off on the deal and a $3.65 million second mortgage from the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Burlington.

To secure the money, Sanders submitted a spreadsheet that attempted to show the school had $2.4 million in confirmed pledges, grants and other funds to repay the debt.

The document -- obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and listed as exhibit B in the original complaint -- showed the money would come from 40 separate entries.

However, each entry was denoted only by initials, under such categories as “friends” or “faculty and staff” and with no additional documentation, according to the complaint filed to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s office of the inspector general.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...robe-wife.html

[anatta]

The federal investigation is focused on actions by Jane Sanders in 2010, when she was president of Burlington College.

At the time, she sought a multi-million dollar loan for a new campus on 33 acres along Lake Champlain. Sanders reportedly told college trustees and bank lenders that the college had millions of dollars in donations that could be used to repay the loan.

But The Washington Post reported Monday that trustees said they discovered many of the donors had not agreed to the amounts or the timing of donations listed in materials Mrs. Sanders provided.



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This Feb. 22, 2015 photo shows a building on the campus of Burlington College in Burlington, Vt. The college, formerly headed by Jane Sanders, wife of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, announced Monday, May 16, 2016, it is closing. The school has been struggling under the weight of its $10 million purchase of property and buildings during from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington that it made during her presidency. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
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This Feb. 22, 2015 photo shows a building on the campus of Burlington College in Burlington, Vt. The college announced it would close in May 2016. (AP)

She had sought a $6.5 million loan from People’s United Bank to buy tax-exempt bonds issued by a state agency, and a $3.65 million second mortgage from the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Burlington.

FBI PROBE OF BERNIE SANDERS' WIFE BASED ON 'FACTS AND FIGURES,' VERMONT GOP OFFICIAL SAYS



In order to secure the money, Sanders submitted a spreadsheet that attempted to show appropriate parties that the school had $2.4 million in confirmed pledges, grants, and other funds to repay the debt.



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FILE--In this July 28, 2016 file photo, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and his wife Jane walk through downtown in Philadelphia during the final day of the Democratic National Convention. Sanders and his wife Jane O'Meara Sanders have hired lawyers in the face of federal investigations into the finances of the now-defunct Burlington College, which closed last year due, many feel, to debts incurred when Jane Sanders entered into an ill-advised real estate deal. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and his wife Jane, on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in July 2016. (AP)

But a complaint raising questions about these pledges was first filed in January 2016 by the law firm of diGenova and Toensing. Partner Brady Toensing, a former Donald Trump presidential campaign official, wrote the complaint.

His involvement has led Sen. Sanders to blast the probe and scrutiny as a "pathetic" and political attack.

But Toensing, vice chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, last week made allegations similar to those detailed in the latest Post report.

“In order to get those loans, she had to confirm guaranteed donations of $2.6 million,” Toensing said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” last Thursday. “Of that $2.6 million, the school was only able to collect about 25 percent…and of the confirmed donations, three of the donors have come forward to say that the school overstated their pledge amounts.”

Toensing said that the Catholic Church and Vermont taxpayers were “harmed” in the alleged collection of funding.

SANDERS BLAMES REPUBLICANS FOR FBI PROBE OF WIFE

Government investigators reportedly suggested that the investigation is focused solely on Jane Sanders and the alleged bank fraud, and not on the independent Vermont senator.

Sanders spokesman Jeff Weaver denied the allegations, and confirmed that Jane Sanders hired a law firm in the spring in an effort to thwart any efforts by the Trump Justice Department to use the investigation as a way to block a potential 2020 opponent.

“While the Obama administration was in office, I don’t think anyone thought that these baseless allegations warranted hiring a lawyer,” Weaver told The Post. “But with Trump and [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions at the helm, that’s a very different situation.”

Last week, Sen. Sanders told CNN that his wife was “perhaps the most honest person I know.”

“Sadly we are in a moment where parties not only attack public officials, they have to go after wives and children,” Sanders said on CNN. “You know, this is pathetic and the way politics is in America today

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017...testimony.html

[anatta]

While the Obama administration was in office, I don’t think anyone thought that these baseless allegations warranted hiring a lawyer,” [B]Weaver told The Post. “But with Trump and [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions at the helm, that’s a very different situation.”

i like weaver and sanders -but their attempts to label this as some kina Republican witch hunt - caused by Trump in office is absurd

[Stretch]

i like weaver and sanders -but their attempts to label this as some kina Republican witch hunt - caused by Trump in office is absurd

It's what they do. It's part of the party platform...mandatory whining.

[anatta]

It's what they do. It's part of the party platform...mandatory whining.

well there's been a lot of whining about Republicans"killing people" with their HC plan- but that's just the usual partisan garbage.
This reads like Trump has something personal against Sanders, though Trump treated him with more respect then even his primary opponents during the campiagn

Maybe sanders is just using Trump as a target of convenience

[Bill]

Must be the deep state...... They have been digging so far right they are now on the left.