Bernie, Jane Sanders Being Investigated for Bank Fraud

Complaint comes from ex-Trump campaign chairman in Vermont
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2017 11:17 AM CDT
Bernie, Jane Sanders Hire Lawyers in FBI Investigation
Jane and Bernie Sanders have retained lawyers in an ongoing FBI investigation into the couple regarding alleged bank fraud.   (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Bernie and Jane Sanders have lawyered up in connection to an ongoing FBI bank fraud investigation into the couple, CBS News reports. The investigation regards a 2010 loan application Jane Sanders submitted while president of the now-closed Burlington College. Sanders was seeking $10 million to purchase land to expand the college. According to Newsweek, she allegedly fudged college donor levels on the application: Two donors were listed as pledging more than they actually had and a third was listed as willing to donate in the near future despite specifying her donation wouldn't be made until after she died. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is alleged to have used his office to pressure the bank into approving the loan, Politico reports.

Bernie Sanders says the investigation is a political move designed to hurt him. The complaints against the Sanders come from Brady Toensing, former Vermont chairman for the Trump campaign, who filed a request for investigation in January 2016. Bernie Sanders says Toensing "has gone after a number of Democrats and progressives" in Vermont. Lawyers for the Sanders note the loan application was "approved by the financial board" at Burlington College and call any claims of pressure from the senator's office "false." Trump hasn't appointed a state attorney for Vermont, who would be in charge of prosecuting the case against the Sanders, but one reported contender for the position is Toensing himself. (More Bernie Sanders stories.)

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