FBI investigating Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane Sanders, for bank fraud

[basquebromance]

"Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins." - Ted Kennedy

 

[basquebromance]

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

 

[Ted Frazier]

Report: FBI investigating Jane Sanders for alleged bank fraud

Op-Ed: The FBI probe you haven't heard about may come back to haunt Bernie Sanders

There's a big story going on right now involving the FBI, the White House, and potential criminal activity.

And no, this one has nothing to do with President Donald Trump's firing James Comey. Rather, the story has the chance to be just as politically damaging as the messy ouster of the former FBI director, even though you probably haven't heard a whisper of it in the mainstream media.

Here are some of the particulars:

1. A year ago, Vermont's Burlington College was forced to shut its doors after finding itself unable to meet the obligations of a big loan it took out to fund a campus expansion.
2. Much of that debt was incurred during the tenure of then-president Jane O'Meara Sanders, the wife of none other than former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Vermont's senator and a progressive icon.
3. This month, Burlington's board of trustees president confirmed to the Burlington Free Press that the Department of Justice and FBI have been looking into the entire loan approval process for more than a year, amid allegations of fraud.

Intrigued yet?

A key focus of the investigation, according to extensive reporting by the Vermont Journalism Trust's VTDigger, is the question of whether Jane Sanders and Burlington College deliberately gave misleading information about how much donor money was coming in to the institution. Now that some of the people on the donor list have reportedly been interviewed by the FBI, that question could be answered very soon.

Right now, no one knows for certain whether a crime was committed, and it bears mentioning that Senator Sanders, in an interview with a local TV station, recently denounced some of the allegations at the center of the affair as politically motivated. Since the matter is still under investigation, I will leave the legal ramifications to the justice system.

But what can and should be discussed is what this could mean for Bernie Sanders' political career, the progressive movement in general, and the boiling issue of higher education costs in America.

For the senator, all of these issues mesh together. Sanders had been a career backbencher and kind of an oddity in Washington for three decades before his stunning near miss in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary. At 75 years old, he's not expected to run for president again in 2020. Still, he's evolved into an influential leader in the Democratic Party, even as he self-identified as an independent while publicly declaring an affinity for Socialism. His leadership of the progressive forces in America is virtually unchallenged, with the possible exception of fellow New Englander Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Burlington College's woes cut right to the heart of the politically charged issue of education costs. Guess what Sanders' main policy goal has been since the election ended? Answer: Free college.

Sanders even introduced legislation last month that would make tuition free for all in-state students at community colleges, as well as those at four-year public colleges whose families earn less than $125,000 a year. This would be no small thing: According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public colleges. Tuition continues to rise faster than the rate of inflation, but institutions often hike fees or the cost of living in dormitories, even as they say tuition rates are officially "frozen."...

...And that brings us back to Jane O'Meara Sanders and her conduct at Burlington College. In addition to being a well-paid administrator herself, (her salary at the tiny college was $160,000 per year with a $200,000 severance when she left in 2011), Sanders was leading an effort for a major physical expansion at Burlington. Campus expansions and other improvements are also a major trend that so many colleges have latched on to in recent decades, as opposed to using added resources to keep tuition prices down or focus on academic quality.

Burlington's failure came when it couldn't pay the loans it took out to cover just such a major expansion. Now, the FBI is looking into whether those loans were acquired fraudulently in the first place.

All of this looks bad at the same time that colleges continue to claim some degree of poverty, and a general inability to control tuition costs. They routinely blame supposed cuts in state funding and the need to "compete" with other institutions for technological capital.

Sometimes, however, they hide the money. Last month, news surfaced that University of California system President Janet Napolitano failed to disclose $175 million of the school's reserve funds, even as she lobbied for tuition increases. For the record, Napolitano and others insist that audit was politically motivated and not entirely accurate. Nonetheless, Gov. Jerry Brown (a fellow Democrat) decided to withhold $50 million in funding from the U.C. system.

With that in mind, it looks bad when overinflated tuition costs evoke a response from people like Sen. Sanders, who expects taxpayers to subsidize them. It's also a potentially mortal blow to Sanders' moral authority on progressive issues if his own wife ends up being targeted by the FBI for acting like one of the rogue Wall Street executives he's railed against for years....

You don't get a second vacation home by being a progressive champion of the people. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders lost all credibility when they endorsed Hillary Clinton, Warren more than Sanders since she endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Ralph Nader is the only leftist who has any credibility left, and he's actually not all that left on some issues like immigration.

This thread didn't withstand the passage of time.
Vermont's US attorney files no charges against Jane Sanders over Burlington College land deal

 

[Oddball]

Payola for ol' Bern taking a dive at the DNC convention paid in full.

 

[Weatherman2020]

Report: FBI investigating Jane Sanders for alleged bank fraud

Op-Ed: The FBI probe you haven't heard about may come back to haunt Bernie Sanders

There's a big story going on right now involving the FBI, the White House, and potential criminal activity.

And no, this one has nothing to do with President Donald Trump's firing James Comey. Rather, the story has the chance to be just as politically damaging as the messy ouster of the former FBI director, even though you probably haven't heard a whisper of it in the mainstream media.

Here are some of the particulars:

1. A year ago, Vermont's Burlington College was forced to shut its doors after finding itself unable to meet the obligations of a big loan it took out to fund a campus expansion.
2. Much of that debt was incurred during the tenure of then-president Jane O'Meara Sanders, the wife of none other than former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Vermont's senator and a progressive icon.
3. This month, Burlington's board of trustees president confirmed to the Burlington Free Press that the Department of Justice and FBI have been looking into the entire loan approval process for more than a year, amid allegations of fraud.

Intrigued yet?

A key focus of the investigation, according to extensive reporting by the Vermont Journalism Trust's VTDigger, is the question of whether Jane Sanders and Burlington College deliberately gave misleading information about how much donor money was coming in to the institution. Now that some of the people on the donor list have reportedly been interviewed by the FBI, that question could be answered very soon.

Right now, no one knows for certain whether a crime was committed, and it bears mentioning that Senator Sanders, in an interview with a local TV station, recently denounced some of the allegations at the center of the affair as politically motivated. Since the matter is still under investigation, I will leave the legal ramifications to the justice system.

But what can and should be discussed is what this could mean for Bernie Sanders' political career, the progressive movement in general, and the boiling issue of higher education costs in America.

For the senator, all of these issues mesh together. Sanders had been a career backbencher and kind of an oddity in Washington for three decades before his stunning near miss in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary. At 75 years old, he's not expected to run for president again in 2020. Still, he's evolved into an influential leader in the Democratic Party, even as he self-identified as an independent while publicly declaring an affinity for Socialism. His leadership of the progressive forces in America is virtually unchallenged, with the possible exception of fellow New Englander Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Burlington College's woes cut right to the heart of the politically charged issue of education costs. Guess what Sanders' main policy goal has been since the election ended? Answer: Free college.

Sanders even introduced legislation last month that would make tuition free for all in-state students at community colleges, as well as those at four-year public colleges whose families earn less than $125,000 a year. This would be no small thing: According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public colleges. Tuition continues to rise faster than the rate of inflation, but institutions often hike fees or the cost of living in dormitories, even as they say tuition rates are officially "frozen."...

...And that brings us back to Jane O'Meara Sanders and her conduct at Burlington College. In addition to being a well-paid administrator herself, (her salary at the tiny college was $160,000 per year with a $200,000 severance when she left in 2011), Sanders was leading an effort for a major physical expansion at Burlington. Campus expansions and other improvements are also a major trend that so many colleges have latched on to in recent decades, as opposed to using added resources to keep tuition prices down or focus on academic quality.

Burlington's failure came when it couldn't pay the loans it took out to cover just such a major expansion. Now, the FBI is looking into whether those loans were acquired fraudulently in the first place.

All of this looks bad at the same time that colleges continue to claim some degree of poverty, and a general inability to control tuition costs. They routinely blame supposed cuts in state funding and the need to "compete" with other institutions for technological capital.

Sometimes, however, they hide the money. Last month, news surfaced that University of California system President Janet Napolitano failed to disclose $175 million of the school's reserve funds, even as she lobbied for tuition increases. For the record, Napolitano and others insist that audit was politically motivated and not entirely accurate. Nonetheless, Gov. Jerry Brown (a fellow Democrat) decided to withhold $50 million in funding from the U.C. system.

With that in mind, it looks bad when overinflated tuition costs evoke a response from people like Sen. Sanders, who expects taxpayers to subsidize them. It's also a potentially mortal blow to Sanders' moral authority on progressive issues if his own wife ends up being targeted by the FBI for acting like one of the rogue Wall Street executives he's railed against for years....

You don't get a second vacation home by being a progressive champion of the people. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders lost all credibility when they endorsed Hillary Clinton, Warren more than Sanders since she endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Ralph Nader is the only leftist who has any credibility left, and he's actually not all that left on some issues like immigration.

This thread didn't withstand the passage of time.
Vermont's US attorney files no charges against Jane Sanders over Burlington College land deal

How odd a DC insider would skate by laws you and I would go to prison for.

 

[AsianTrumpSupporter]

Report: FBI investigating Jane Sanders for alleged bank fraud

Op-Ed: The FBI probe you haven't heard about may come back to haunt Bernie Sanders

There's a big story going on right now involving the FBI, the White House, and potential criminal activity.

And no, this one has nothing to do with President Donald Trump's firing James Comey. Rather, the story has the chance to be just as politically damaging as the messy ouster of the former FBI director, even though you probably haven't heard a whisper of it in the mainstream media.

Here are some of the particulars:

1. A year ago, Vermont's Burlington College was forced to shut its doors after finding itself unable to meet the obligations of a big loan it took out to fund a campus expansion.
2. Much of that debt was incurred during the tenure of then-president Jane O'Meara Sanders, the wife of none other than former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Vermont's senator and a progressive icon.
3. This month, Burlington's board of trustees president confirmed to the Burlington Free Press that the Department of Justice and FBI have been looking into the entire loan approval process for more than a year, amid allegations of fraud.

Intrigued yet?

A key focus of the investigation, according to extensive reporting by the Vermont Journalism Trust's VTDigger, is the question of whether Jane Sanders and Burlington College deliberately gave misleading information about how much donor money was coming in to the institution. Now that some of the people on the donor list have reportedly been interviewed by the FBI, that question could be answered very soon.

Right now, no one knows for certain whether a crime was committed, and it bears mentioning that Senator Sanders, in an interview with a local TV station, recently denounced some of the allegations at the center of the affair as politically motivated. Since the matter is still under investigation, I will leave the legal ramifications to the justice system.

But what can and should be discussed is what this could mean for Bernie Sanders' political career, the progressive movement in general, and the boiling issue of higher education costs in America.

For the senator, all of these issues mesh together. Sanders had been a career backbencher and kind of an oddity in Washington for three decades before his stunning near miss in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary. At 75 years old, he's not expected to run for president again in 2020. Still, he's evolved into an influential leader in the Democratic Party, even as he self-identified as an independent while publicly declaring an affinity for Socialism. His leadership of the progressive forces in America is virtually unchallenged, with the possible exception of fellow New Englander Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Burlington College's woes cut right to the heart of the politically charged issue of education costs. Guess what Sanders' main policy goal has been since the election ended? Answer: Free college.

Sanders even introduced legislation last month that would make tuition free for all in-state students at community colleges, as well as those at four-year public colleges whose families earn less than $125,000 a year. This would be no small thing: According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public colleges. Tuition continues to rise faster than the rate of inflation, but institutions often hike fees or the cost of living in dormitories, even as they say tuition rates are officially "frozen."...

...And that brings us back to Jane O'Meara Sanders and her conduct at Burlington College. In addition to being a well-paid administrator herself, (her salary at the tiny college was $160,000 per year with a $200,000 severance when she left in 2011), Sanders was leading an effort for a major physical expansion at Burlington. Campus expansions and other improvements are also a major trend that so many colleges have latched on to in recent decades, as opposed to using added resources to keep tuition prices down or focus on academic quality.

Burlington's failure came when it couldn't pay the loans it took out to cover just such a major expansion. Now, the FBI is looking into whether those loans were acquired fraudulently in the first place.

All of this looks bad at the same time that colleges continue to claim some degree of poverty, and a general inability to control tuition costs. They routinely blame supposed cuts in state funding and the need to "compete" with other institutions for technological capital.

Sometimes, however, they hide the money. Last month, news surfaced that University of California system President Janet Napolitano failed to disclose $175 million of the school's reserve funds, even as she lobbied for tuition increases. For the record, Napolitano and others insist that audit was politically motivated and not entirely accurate. Nonetheless, Gov. Jerry Brown (a fellow Democrat) decided to withhold $50 million in funding from the U.C. system.

With that in mind, it looks bad when overinflated tuition costs evoke a response from people like Sen. Sanders, who expects taxpayers to subsidize them. It's also a potentially mortal blow to Sanders' moral authority on progressive issues if his own wife ends up being targeted by the FBI for acting like one of the rogue Wall Street executives he's railed against for years....

You don't get a second vacation home by being a progressive champion of the people. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders lost all credibility when they endorsed Hillary Clinton, Warren more than Sanders since she endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Ralph Nader is the only leftist who has any credibility left, and he's actually not all that left on some issues like immigration.

This thread didn't withstand the passage of time.
Vermont's US attorney files no charges against Jane Sanders over Burlington College land deal

Of course not. The Deep State protects career politicians on the left who almost never get investigated. Bernie probably cut a deal in exchange for his endorsement of Hillary.