Bernie Sanders' Wife Cries 'Sexism' Over Bank Fraud Allegations

Lianne Hikind | July 17, 2017
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Jane Sanders, the wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has declared she's a victim of "sexism" after a man launched an investigation into the allegedly fraudulent loan she acquired during her tenure as president of Burlington College.

According to Jane Sanders, the only reason that there is even an investigation against her is because Brady Toensing, a former official for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, wants to hurt her husband by destroying her reputation.

The FBI investigation into Mrs. Sanders was opened in 2016 after Toensing filed a report against her in her home state of Vermont. According to Fox News, Sanders is being investigated for bank fraud.

Sanders was the dean of Burlington College from 2004-2011, and is allegedly responsible for the massive debt that the college accrued. The school was unable to reach financial stability and lost its accreditation, ultimately declaring bankruptcy in 2016.

During Sanders' tenure as president of the college, Burlington purchased 32 acres of lakefront property in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington for $10 million, which they took out as a loan that was reportedly spearheaded by Sanders. According to the Boston Globe, the administration's goal was to increase the small liberal arts school from 150 students to 700, and was counting on the influx of new students to pay for the new campus.

However, that didn't end up working out. Intend, Jane Sanders resigned as president with two years left on her contract, and the school went into crisis mode trying to recover. In 2015, the college sold 80 percent of its new land to try and get back in the black. But the school remained on notice for accreditation, and was eventually forced to close its doors due to the crippling debt.

The bank foreclosed on the school's loan in April 2016. 

According to the Washington Examiner, Toesnsing started researching Mrs. Sanders in 2014, two years before her husband ran for president. The complaint filed in 2016 alleges:

Ms. Sanders’s privileged status as the wife of a powerful United States Senator seems to have inoculated her from the robust underwriting that would have uncovered the apparent fraudulent donation claims she made.

But now, Mrs. Sanders is claiming she is being investigated for bank fraud because Toensing is "sexist" and trying to make it appear as though she only received the loan because her husband is a U.S. senator.

The Boston Globe reports that in an interview, Sanders said of the investigation, "I find it incredibly sexist that basically he’s going after my husband by destroying my reputation, and that’s not OK."

For his part, Brady Toensing simply claimed, "My goal is for a full, fair, and impartial investigation – that’s all I care about. That people be treated the same regardless of status in this system."

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