The investigation into Jane Sanders’ deal for loan during her time at the Burlington College has reached new heights, as matters are set to be taken up before a grand jury. Sources have reported that up to a dozen boxes of records from Sanders time at the college have been taken into consideration. Moreover, a state official has also been called to testify in front of the grand jury; in order to identify as to whether Sanders had falsified a loan for the school, as it was going bankrupt and eventually shut down in May of 2016.
“A Vermont-based blog, VTDigger, reported last year that Jane Sanders inflated how much the small Vermont College had secured in donations, noting two instances in which a person said the amount of their financial pledge had been exaggerated on the school’s loan application,” highlights The Hill.
In the light of the case, it was noted that in her efforts to relocate the college to a new campus and to keep it up and running, Mrs. Sanders had mentioned at the time of taking out the loan that the college shall be receiving up to a million dollars in donation, which shall be put towards paying off the loans. However, lenders and trustees later discovered that the a good many of the donors had neither agreed on the set time for the donation and nor the amount of the donation, as listed on the documents presented by Mrs. Sanders at the time of taking out the loan.
At the time of obtaining the loan, Sanders presented records that “confirmed” $2.6 million in donation. And that the board based their decision on these records, “The board made the decision based on the information Jane provided,” said Adam Dantzscher, chairman of the board at time.
Charly Dickerson, a member of the board expressed that, “My gut was, this is biting off more than you can chew.” He added, “Their balance sheet was not all that strong.”
Bernie Sanders dismissed these allegations against his wife and continued to blame this as one of the Republican Party’s efforts to take him down.
“Right in the middle of my presidential campaign, 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,” Bernie Sanders told CNN.
Moreover, it has been noted that the couple has hired a D.C. based law firm to handler this case.
A spokesperson for the couple stated, “While the Obama administration was in office, I don’t think anyone thought that these baseless allegations warranted hiring a lawyer.” And that, with Trump and [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions at the helm, that’s a very different situation,” he added.