Bernie and Jane Sanders, under FBI investigation

[CleveRocks]

It is in fact perfectly fine to shrug off a failed attempt from russia to influence elections. Comey and the entire intelligence community have consistently said that :

1) the Russians never change a ballot.
2) the russian based hacking attempts did not successfully influence the out come of the election.
3) There is zero evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians in any way..

Flynns problem is that he spoke with the russians before he was confirmed, and then did not disclose those duscussions. If he had had exactly the same conversation AFTER confirmation, it would have been entirely appropriate. During his entire career he has served the US as a good guy, which even Comey has confirmed...

The president has foriegn policy, and if he thinks it is in the Country's best interest to improve Russian relations, (like some other presidents such as Reagan) then he holds his nose and does it.. Obama did it with Cuba despite a long running battle with Castro, because he thought it was time to remove a thorn from our collective side. Nixon did it with China, despite the fact that he knew someday, China would be our most powerful enemy. In fact he was probably motivated by that knowledge..


Pretty much every enemy ( and sometimes freinds like israel and pakistan) of the US makes attempts at influencing politics here. Iran, China, Cuba....its a long list. The Russsians used cyberwarfare. That is the news.. And it is not a surprise. They have been practicing cyberwar since the incursion into Georgia. It makes sense since they do not have the resources to hang with the US or China economically.. If you dont understand that, you are hopelessly naive.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

It is in fact perfectly fine to shrug off a failed attempt from russia to influence elections.

Well, its not fine. A foreign nation hacking into computers owned by Americans, or by the American government, is something that our government should address. Frankly, the Obama Administration downplayed that stuff repeatedly in the interest of preserving good relations. Massive data breaches of U.S. government records by the Chinese, for example, were met with essentially no response. That should not happen.

However, with respect to the election, the primary issue as I see it is that Democrats are angry/perplexed/frustrated that American voters did not have the desired reaction to Russia hacking the DNC, so they are trying churn the story hoping to change that political reality.

The fact that Russia was trying to help the Trump campaign was essentially disclosed last July, when Hillary cited her "17 intelligence agencies" concluding the DNC hacking was done by the Russians. The Obama Administration essentially confirmed that at the time. So that "big revelation" of Russia being responsible for that hack is something American voters took into account before the election.

Flynns problem is that he spoke with the russians before he was confirmed, and then did not disclose those duscussions. If he had had exactly the same conversation AFTER confirmation, it would have been entirely appropriate. During his entire career he has served the US as a good guy, which even Comey has confirmed...

Right. Frankly, I don't think it would have been a problem if he had those conversations even before the inauguration (or even pre-election) as long as they were disclosed. It was the lack of disclosure that was the problem. But that hardly is something that impacts the legitimacy or the President or the Administration overall. The other end of that is that he might have received some speakers fees that should have been disclosed (if in fact they weren't), and that he might be in legal trouble for that. But I really doubt that's a serious crime, or anything close to the first time that has happened in Washington.

 

[natedagg]

This sucks bc if and when Bernie is cleared, it will still be used to discredit him. Even if you are innocent, you are still partly guilty in the court of public opinion.

Please God let Bernie be cleared. If he isn't a good dude down to the core, a small part of me will die. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find out his wife is guilty. This sounds like a common crime that's still a crime. When shit goes very south, things like this tend to make their way to the surface.

And why are we talking about Trump in here?

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

This sucks bc if and when Bernie is cleared, it will still be used to discredit him. Even if you are innocent, you are still partly guilty in the court of public opinion.

Please God let Bernie be cleared. If he isn't a good dude down to the core, a small part of me will die. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to find out his wife is guilty. This sounds like a common crime that's still a crime. When shit goes very south, things like this tend to make their way to the surface.

And why are we talking about Trump in here?

Because someone brought in Trump as a reason to minimize what Bernie and his wife are accused of doing.

Probably should be noted that the FBI investigation of the Sanders actually began under the Obama Administration.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Here's one of the original articles ( I think it is actually the first) on the Burlington College loans, from way back in March 2015. It goes into pretty good detail, and it kind of looks bad for Jill Sanders. Doesn't help that she got a $200k severance package from a college that was teetering on insolvency.

Essentially, the College's own contemporaneous audit revealed less than half as much in confirmed/legally pledged donations as Ms. Sanders represented on the loan application. That's not good at all. It seems that she's going to have to take a page from Hillary Clinton -- "I didn't know what the standards were." She'll just have to blame that on her inexperience rather than on a bonk on the head.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/26/e...rs-wife-may-have-defrauded-state-agency-bank/

Toensing, the GOP guy who worked on Trump's campaign, didn't get involved at all until January 2016.

 

[CleveRocks]

as far as Jill goes, i think she can legitamately plead ignorance, give back the 200k and skate away..the state loves the sanders and will be sympathetic. Bernie is also much loved and i would be surprised if anyone will go to the stand against him. if there are no smoking gun documents, i think he will get off with a handslap..

 

[buzzdog]

LOCK THEM UP!!!!

 

[Huber.]

Bank Fraud Probe of Jane Sanders' Land Deal Heats Up

(NEWSER) – Things appear to be heating up in the probe of a land deal made by Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane, a new Washington Postarticle suggests. A state official has been called to testify before a grand jury in the federal investigation into the deal, which Jane Sanders made when she was president of Vermont's Burlington College in 2010. Sanders intended to boost enrollment at the college by purchasing the land and relocating the school, but the deal ultimately pushed the college into deep financial trouble, resulting in its shuttering last year. A bank fraud investigation was opened after allegations that Sanders may have fudged college donor levels on the loan application (allegations that led to her resignation from the college in 2011) and that her husband may have used his political office to get the application approved.

The Post spoke to half a dozen people who said they had been contacted by the FBI or federal prosecutors recently about the probe, plus former college trustees who say Sanders' lawyers have contacted them. And sources say prosecutors took more than a dozen boxes of records from Burlington College recently. The investigation appears to be centered on Jane, not Bernie, Sanders, per the Post's sources. A spokesperson for the couple has denied any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the AP has a look at the Republican lawyer pushing the investigation—Brady Toensing's letter to Vermont's US attorney and federal bank regulators got the investigation launched last year—and finds that he has a history of filing complaints and public records requests against left-leaning politicians in Vermont. The Sanders' attorney says he's leading a "crusade" against Vermont Democrats.


http://www.newser.com/story/245503/bank-fraud-probe-of-jane-sanders-land-deal-heats-up.html

 

[AZ_]

Bank Fraud Probe of Jane Sanders' Land Deal Heats Up

(NEWSER) – Things appear to be heating up in the probe of a land deal made by Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane, a new Washington Postarticle suggests. A state official has been called to testify before a grand jury in the federal investigation into the deal, which Jane Sanders made when she was president of Vermont's Burlington College in 2010. Sanders intended to boost enrollment at the college by purchasing the land and relocating the school, but the deal ultimately pushed the college into deep financial trouble, resulting in its shuttering last year. A bank fraud investigation was opened after allegations that Sanders may have fudged college donor levels on the loan application (allegations that led to her resignation from the college in 2011) and that her husband may have used his political office to get the application approved.

The Post spoke to half a dozen people who said they had been contacted by the FBI or federal prosecutors recently about the probe, plus former college trustees who say Sanders' lawyers have contacted them. And sources say prosecutors took more than a dozen boxes of records from Burlington College recently. The investigation appears to be centered on Jane, not Bernie, Sanders, per the Post's sources. A spokesperson for the couple has denied any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, the AP has a look at the Republican lawyer pushing the investigation—Brady Toensing's letter to Vermont's US attorney and federal bank regulators got the investigation launched last year—and finds that he has a history of filing complaints and public records requests against left-leaning politicians in Vermont. The Sanders' attorney says he's leading a "crusade" against Vermont Democrats.


http://www.newser.com/story/245503/bank-fraud-probe-of-jane-sanders-land-deal-heats-up.html

Hopefully Mrs Sanders is vindicated.

As the article says, the Trumper that filed this has a history of going after politicians with frivolous charges.

Par for the course.

 

[Randolphkeys]

It's the 21st century, and the media has become decentralized from local tastes to a macro scale, but catering to whomever you want demonized. You want a Democrat who represents New Mexico to look bad? Give us the resources, we will find something. Want to make Trump's third wife look like a gold-digging whore? Somebody is on it. Consumers of media can get whatever info they want, even if it hasn't been ruled on yet.

But go ahead and check. I liked Bernie but I'm not going to turn a blind eye to an actual misuse of public funds, if it actually happened. Will Trump's supporters do the same for the Republican Party? Some... a few... Republicans I know are either old school and want actual proof their politicians aren't corrupt or they are playing the Fox News game and staying in their information bubble. I respect the people who seek truth a hell of a lot more.

 

[Cratylus]

Hopefully Mrs Sanders is vindicated.

As the article says, the Trumper that filed this has a history of going after politicians with frivolous charges.

Par for the course.

Hopefully Mrs Sanders is found guilty and punished if she broke the law.

As RCF history has shown, Boobie has a history of going after politicians with frivolous charges as long as the target has an (R) after their name. Meanwhile Boobie gives people with a (D) after their name a free pass and carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want.

Par for the course.

 

[AZ_]

Hopefully Mrs Sanders is found guilty and punished if she broke the law

I agree.

But knowing the character of the Sanders family, this seems pretty unlikely.

I have no such respect for the character of many conservatives in Congress or the administration.

Or Democrats in Congress, for that matter.

 

[David.]

Hopefully Mrs Sanders is found guilty and punished if she broke the law.

As RCF history has shown, Boobie has a history of going after politicians with frivolous charges as long as the target has an (R) after their name. Meanwhile Boobie gives people with a (D) after their name a free pass and carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want.

Par for the course.

Its all teams man. Enjoy if it's your thing.

 

[Cratylus]

Its all teams man. Enjoy if it's your thing.

Agreed. Basically, we're fucked.

 

[Cratylus]

But knowing the character of the Sanders family, this seems pretty unlikely.

No doubt. Cuz people who think it's ethical and noble to forcibly plunder money from those who have earned it in order to doll it out to people who haven't earned it are the very definition of people of "character".