Bernie Sanders Cancels Interview to Dodge Questions About Fraud Case

From: thefederalistpapers.org                                             By  

Socialists claim to be men of the people, but apparently that doesn’t include believing that the people deserve answers about socialists’ own dirty laundry.

The Daily Caller reports that Vermont Senator and failed Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders recently reneged on an offer to give an interview to Vermont newspaper Seven Days, because the paper wouldn’t agree to not ask any questions about “political gossip” or Sanders’ family — kind of a big deal, considering Bernie’s wife Jane Sanders is currently the subject of an FBI bank fraud investigation concerning a shady land deal she made in 2010 as president of the now-defunct Burlington College.

A spokesman for Sanders, Daniel McLean, is reported to have offered the paper an interview on Sunday night, only to withdraw it Monday morning after the reporter declined to let Sanders set the boundaries for the interview.

When the paper’s reporter confronted Sanders in person to ask for an interview, the senator made it clear that he would only do so on his terms. “Well, as I think Dan indicated, we talk about issues. We don’t talk about gossip,” Sanders said.

Sanders has previously been hesitant to discuss the investigation into his wife.

As TFPP has previously covered, Sanders has been under scrutiny ever since Burlington College closed down after it defaulted on the loans it took out for the land deal, which Sanders was accused of applying for using fraudulent information.

 

 

Most recently, TFPP reported that a grand jury compelled witness testimony in the case. Sanders spokesman Jeff Weaver attempted to downplay the news as “simply recycling an account of a government interview of a witness from several months ago,” and maintained there is “absolutely no reason to believe that there is a grand jury empaneled to examine Burlington College, Jane Sanders, or any aspect of Dr. Sanders’ service as president of Burlington College.” However, the development could be a precursor to a future determination that criminal charges should be pursued against someone.

What a mess. In Bernie’s shoes, I probably wouldn’t want to talk to the press about it either. Of course, you and I wouldn’t be the kind of sleaze to create this mess for ourselves in the first place …