Monday, July 10, 2017
The Washington Post reported Monday that a federal investigation involving Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, "has accelerated in recent months" and is "gathering steam." In what appeared to be a previously unreported development, the Post wrote that prosecutors had subpoenaed a Vermont state official "to testify before a grand jury" about the matter in April.
"That is the first public confirmation that prosecutors have sought to present evidence to a grand jury," investigative reporters Shawn Boburg and Jack Gillum wrote.
But according to the state official in question, Vermont Educational and Health Buildings Finance Agency executive director Robert Giroux, and VEHBFA general counsel James Foley, prosecutors never asked Giroux to testify before a grand jury. And the subpoena itself, which Foley provided to Seven Days, makes clear that federal officials were seeking documents from the state agency — not testimony.
"A personal appearance is not required and the subpoena may be complied with a CD/DVD or Documents by certified mail," Acting U.S. Attorney Eugenia Cowles wrote in an April 17 cover letter accompanying the subpoena. The federal request makes no reference to Giroux or any other state official.
The distinction is important because federal prosecutors often use grand jury subpoenas to obtain documents at an earlier stage of an investigation. They typically do not call witnesses before a grand jury until they are seeking an indictment.
After Seven Days questioned Boburg and Gillum about their reporting late Monday, the Post corrected its story and retracted the claim.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Burlington College , Washington Post , Image , Web Only
Friday, July 7, 2017
Svitavsky, who calls himself "a bona fide, strong, left-wing Christian liberal," says he shares many of Sanders' political views — if anything, he adds, "I'm more liberal than Bernie" — but he is no fan of Sanders' conduct, calling him "a vicious politician. So many good words, but so arrogant."
Svitavsky says he was spurred to enter the political arena by the 2016 presidential campaign. "Bernie was very much responsible for Trump's election," he asserts. "I was amazed that Sanders wouldn't do all that he could, once Hillary [Clinton] got the nomination, to elect Hillary over Trump, who would destroy all the things he supposedly believes in."
Tags: Senator , Jon Svitavsky , Bernie Sanders , Hillary Clinton , Donald Trump , U.S. Senate race , Image
Friday, June 30, 2017
But in an interview with Seven Days Friday, that source — Vermont House Minority Leader Don Turner (R-Milton) — disputed Toensing's characterization of their May 2016 conversation and called into question Toensing's allegation. Turner described the information he provided Toensing as nothing more than "hearsay" — and hardly evidence of wrongdoing.
"There's no way I'd file a complaint or anything like that," said the Milton Republican, who has not previously been identified as Toensing's source.
Turner's remarks appear to undercut the most explosive charge that Toensing, a Charlotte attorney, has leveled in recent years at the senator and his wife. But they don't directly contradict another of the Republican official's allegations: that O'Meara Sanders committed federal loan fraud by overstating fundraising commitments when applying for a $6.5 million loan on behalf of Burlington College, the now-defunct school she once ran.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Burlington College , Brady Toensing , Don Turner , Jeff Weaver , federal investigation , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 23, 2017
Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) wife, Jane O'Meara Sanders, has obtained legal help amid a Federal Bureau of Investigation probe into a Burlington College property acquisition that occurred in 2010 while she was the college's president.
According to former college officials, the FBI has been investigating whether O'Meara Sanders overstated pledges from donors that allowed the college to obtain a $6.7 million loan from Peoples United Bank to buy the former Roman Catholic Diocese building on North Avenue in Burlington.
Lawyers from two firms representing O'Meara Sanders contacted Coralee Holm, former dean of operations and advancement for the now-defunct Burlington College, to ask about what the FBI had been seeking from her this spring, Holm said Friday. Holm told Seven Days she spoke with Matt Shagam, an attorney with Burlington lawyer Rich Cassidy's firm. She said that Jennifer Windom, a partner with a Washington law firm, left her a voicemail saying she was working with Cassidy. Holm said she didn't return that call.
VTDigger.org first reported on Thursday that lawyers were making calls about the land probe on O'Meara Sanders' behalf. Politico Magazine subsequently reported that Cassidy and Washington, D.C.-based defense attorney Larry Robbins have been hired to represent her. That story's author, Harry Jaffe, is a former Rutland Herald reporter and current editor at large for Washingtonian Magazine.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Jane O'Meara Sanders , Burlington College , FBI , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Nolan, a graduate of the University of Vermont and Boston College Law School, would become the first woman to hold the top federal prosecutor's job in Vermont if she is nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
In a joint statement, Leahy and Scott called Nolan a "fair and tough" prosecutor.
"Christina is uniquely familiar with the many challenges brought by our state's opioid crisis through her focus on heroin prosecutions and other drug-related crime," they wrote. "She recognizes that addiction is a pressing threat to the health of our state, and she will make dismantling trafficking organizations a top priority, as well as working side-by-side with partners in the prevention and treatment communities."
Tags: Christina Nolan , Patrick Leahy , Phil Scott , Eric Miller , Eugenia Cowles , U.S. Attorney's office , federal court , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Authorities say 66-year-old James Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., opened fire Wednesday morning at a baseball field in Alexandria, Va. Five people were wounded, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). Hodgkinson was shot at the scene and later died in a hospital.
Sanders first issued a statement condemning the shooting, then addressed it in prepared remarks delivered on the U.S. Senate floor.
"I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign," Sanders said. "I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Steve Scalise , James Hodgkinson , Alexandria shooting , Congressional shooting , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, June 8, 2017
"[Comey] made very clear that he was fired because of the Russia investigation," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) told Seven Days Thursday afternoon. "Today, I think a lot of questions were answered."
Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said he found Comey's testimony "stunning."
"It's very disturbing," he said. "I mean, essentially you've got the president of the United States, whose responsibility is to enforce the law, interfering with an investigation ... There's an enormous amount of smoke here and a persistent pattern that is very alarming."
Tags: Senator , James Comey , Donald Trump , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , Peter Welch , Jeff Sessions , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
At least two of his Democratic colleagues in the U.S. House have called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump over his ties to Russia, but Welch declined to do the same Tuesday at a South Burlington press conference. In a written statement, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) also fended off calls for impeachment, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) did not immediately respond to a request for his position.
The Washington Post reported Monday that Trump shared highly classified intelligence with Russia's foreign minister and U.S. ambassador last week during a meeting in the Oval Office. The day before that meeting, the president fired FBI director James Comey, a decision he later said was influenced in part by the bureau's investigation of his campaign's ties to Russia. That prompted Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) to accuse Trump of obstructing justice and join Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) in calling for the president's impeachment.
Welch took a more cautious stance Tuesday morning during an unrelated press conference at Burlington International Airport. Vermont's sole U.S. House member called Trump's actions "pretty stupid." But when asked whether the president had committed an impeachable offense, Welch said, "He's got the legal authority. I think it's a judgment issue."
Tags: Peter Welch , Patrick Leahy , Donald Trump , impeachment , Image , Web Only
Monday, May 15, 2017
The mini-tour is designed to promote the British paperback release of Sanders’ book, Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In. The dates coincide with a long weekend in the U.S. Senate’s calendar, so if his travel arrangements come off without a hitch, he won’t miss any days at work.
News of his tour was not easy to come by. We first caught wind of it via several reports in the British and Irish press, though there appeared to be no official tour announcement. The senator’s office, meanwhile, was no help whatsoever; we inquired after hearing of tour stops in Dublin and Oxford, and got the following terse emailed response from Sanders staffer Josh Miller-Lewis:
“It is a book event. You should contact the publisher.”
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Larry Sanders , Jeremy Corbyn , Josh Miller-Lewis , Tad Devine , Grady Kennison , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
"The president has removed the sitting FBI director in the midst of one of the most critical national security investigations in the history of our country — one that implicates senior officials in the Trump campaign and administration," Leahy, a longtime member and former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a written statement. "This is nothing less than Nixonian."
Sanders called Comey's firing "deeply troubling" and said it "raises serious questions about what his administration is hiding."
"President Trump has repeatedly taken steps to kill inquiries into Russia's involvement in the U.S. election," Vermont's junior senator said in his own written statement. "It is clear that whomever President Trump handpicks to lead the FBI will not be able to objectively carry out this investigation."
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Patrick Leahy , Donald Trump , James Comey , Image , Web Only