Updated at 6:14 p.m.
A federal investigation into a Burlington College land deal orchestrated by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, appears to be ongoing, according to two former college officials.
Sara Adsit-McCuin, who served on the defunct college’s board for roughly three years, said Friday that she was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation “a couple of weeks ago.” During an in-person interview, two FBI agents focused their questions on Burlington College’s 2010 purchase of a 32-acre campus overlooking Lake Champlain. At the time of the deal, O’Meara Sanders was serving as the college’s president.
“I didn’t give them any information that they didn’t already have,” Adsit-McCuin told Seven Days.
Carol Moore, a former president of the college, told Seven Days that she, too, had been contacted “three or four weeks ago” by an FBI agent. He confirmed to her that “this is an ongoing investigation,” Moore said.
The existence of the investigation was first reported Thursday by VTDigger.org, citing email correspondence between the Vermont Agency of Education, Burlington College and federal officials. Those emails confirm that the investigation was active at least through February. The FBI’s recent contact with Adsit-McCuin and Moore suggests that it continues.
Neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice has confirmed the existence of an investigation. Spokespeople for the FBI’s Albany, N.Y., field office, which has jurisdiction over Vermont, and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont declined to comment Friday. Neither O’Meara Sanders nor Bernie Sanders’ Senate office responded to requests for comment.
In January 2016, Vermont Republican Party vice chair Brady Toensing filed a complaint with the U.S. Attorney’s office alleging that O’Meara Sanders had overstated fundraising commitments when applying for a loan to buy the new campus. Toensing alleged that she had misrepresented $2 million worth of pledges in order to borrow the $10 million necessary to finance the deal.
“I believe that’s what instigated everything: that formal complaint,” Burlington College board chair Yves Bradley said Friday. He said that while he had not been contacted by federal officials, he learned of the FBI investigation months before the college closed under financial duress in May 2016.
According to Coralee Holm, Burlington College’s former dean of operations and advancement, federal investigators have focused their attention on fundraising related to the 2010 land deal. She told Seven Days Friday that the FBI subpoenaed the college in February 2016 and interviewed her on campus at least four times over the next several months.
“I cooperated with their request, which was to provide any documentation that pertained to the purchase of the new property as it related to fundraising for that property,” she said.
Moore, who was Holm’s boss at the time, was aware of the FBI’s interest. She said it was clear from the start what the bureau was investigating: “Was there any collusion between Jane Sanders and the bank? Did she falsify records in order to get the loan from the bank?”
Holm said she provided the FBI a filing cabinet and three or four banker boxes filled with donor files. At the bureau’s request, she searched email accounts that previously belonged to O’Meara Sanders and Christine Plunkett, who served as O’Meara Sanders’ chief financial officer and then succeeded her as president. Holm said she transferred those and other electronic files to a hard drive provided by the FBI.
Asked if she found anything noteworthy in O’Meara Sanders’ emails, Holm said, “I prefer not to comment on that.”
While searching for information to aid the FBI’s investigation, Holm said she had been “unsuccessful in locating documentation of the gifts and pledges” O’Meara Sanders represented in the loan application she signed.
Holm said the FBI assured her that the college itself was not the subject of its inquiry.
“They were not looking at the college as the party under investigation,” she said.
Holm, who was hired by Burlington College in the fall of 2012, said that she had never spoken to O’Meara Sanders about the matter. But she said that O’Meara Sanders’ daughter and Sen. Sanders’ stepdaughter, Carina Driscoll, had requested that the college keep the family apprised of any developments that might attract press scrutiny during the senator’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Driscoll, a former Burlington city councilor and state representative, runs the Fairfax-based Vermont Woodworking School, which was affiliated with Burlington College during her mother’s tenure as president. Driscoll declined to comment.
“Carina was very quick to want to be knowing if anything came up,” Holm said. “We were getting calls from the press. People were making inquiries, so we did make the campaign managers of the [presidential] campaign aware of that, and we kept Carina apprised at the time, but we did not go into any detail.”
Holm said the college reached out to the campaign “on at least three occasions” but never informed the Sanders family or campaign about the subpoena.
Reached Friday, Toensing said he was “happy” that federal officials appeared to have taken his complaint seriously.
“In our system, nobody should be above the law, and it looks like the feds are taking a close look,” he said.
Corrected at 6:14 p.m.: An earlier version of this story misspelled Adsit-McCuin’s name.
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Lock the entire family up. The Sanders think and act like they are the Sapranos of Vermont. If Bernie wins re-election it’s proof the system is rigged or proof Vermonters have become brain washed.
Carina Driscoll’s for-profit business was subsidized for years by Burlington College, thanks to her mother. Highly unusual that a college would suddenly start to fund an outside “woodworking” program that diverted much needed funds from its own programs to an outside business. Hundreds of thousands of dollars went to Vermont Woodworking School and Carina Driscoll even became Dean of the program, probably supported by even more tuition dollars. Ironic that today Vermont Woodworking School remains in operation while Burlington College no longer exists. Did students know there tuition dollars were supporting Jane Sanders’ daughter’s business? Highly doubtful.
Only the fat cows of VT ( and their are a lot of them) admire the FRAUD Sanders clan, sucking on the govt all his life to finance his 3 homes. Good socialist. Deport these thieves to north Korea.
If Jane Sanders diverted college funds to her daughter’s school, then her potential criminality related to any false claims made to support a college-development loan could pale.
M. Ferrer: Jane Sanders also seemingly used the Burlington College funds at her disposal to bring on the infamous Jonathan Leopold, a former Bernie henchman at City Hall and mastermind of the Burlington Telecom fraud that disenfranchised Burlington voters under the feckless Mayor Bob Kiss Administration, by installing him on the Board of Directors to likely help with the creative financing that was occurring. The modus operandi was similar to what you bring up with the Driscoll daughter in that Leopold’s son Jesse was also enriched with his capitalistic endeavors with a Leopold family owned resort in the Bahamas that was used as a ‘classroom’ for a Burlington College 3-credit Spring Break course in what amounted to Snorkeling and Marine Photography.
These Bernsheviks sure hit the Proletariat Jackpot when it came to BC. It should not be difficult for the FBI to follow the money in this case.
I don’t understand why people are equating Jane Sanders with her husband but I’m glad the FBI is investigating her possible crimes. Bernie Sanders is a great man, and it sounds like Jane Sanders is quite the opportunist. You can be married to a criminal without being a criminal yourself. It is possible Bernie was doing his job and not involved in the details of Jane Sanders machinations to line her daughter’s pockets.
To me it sounds like she needs to be fined and jailed. But no matter what happens to Jane Sanders, I will always support Bernie Sanders and be grateful for his hard work on behalf of America.
If only Jane Sanders had created a foundation, say the Jane Sanders Foundation, and used that to funnel money then she’d be a viable candidate for the democratic nomination.
Bernard and Jane Sanders are both frauds and opportunists. I would so love to see them both behind bars.
It sounds like O’Meara Sanders may have exaggerated the number and/or the amount of pledges promised to Burlington College in order to get a loan so that the college could purchase the church property. Buying the church property was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to transform Burlington College into a “real college.” I suppose the presumption was that once the college acquired the “campus”, it would attract more donors and blossom. That strategy apparently didn’t work. If there was no deception involved, then I applaud her for taking that risk and going for it. It was the right thing to do even it if it didn’t work out.
Hey ole nutcase Sanders lived off of friends for yrs, till they kicked him out, he was a thief back then, he hooked into a neighbors electricity..he never drew a paycheck till he became mayor in Burlington..and he still hasn’t worked a day in his life..There is proof about old Janey changing the pledges amount..But you just watch..they will get away with lying and stealing..the transplants should go back to Brooklyn..Bernie misused the donations for his campaign..hiring a private jet to take 50 family and friends to Rome to see the Pope for 5 mins..He was paid off by the Clintons to drop out of the race.he was a sellout..!!! This so called Woodworking school is 30 seconds from me..Don’t know how they are keeping afloat ..Why do people keep saying they have only 3 homes..there’s 5 and a condo in DC..new cars etc etc..and he keeps claiming he’s poor..we should be so poor.. Socialist draft dodger lying Sanders and his lying thief of a wife, they deserve each other..
Burlington College is the Solyndra of Higher Education. Liberal optimism, coupled with other peoples money, yet oblivious to reality.
With all the lying and corruption that is going on in the US right now, this article really feels misguided. Bernie is working to save health care and working on the behalf of Vermonters, so it’s amazing to me that this would be an article that Seven Days would put their energy into right now. Seriously? I picked up the paper and put it down with disgust when I saw this, and I never do that with Seven Days (except the article where someone griped about not getting an interview with Sanders, again, really?). There is so much corruption happening in Washington that impacts all of us, let’s talk about the real issues, and have some gratitude that you have someone finding for your typical vermont resident. I really don’t care if Bernie has two our three houses, he’s a senator, it’s a lucrative position. He’s reached the level of popularity he has by being an advocate for the middle class, every day person. He’s mobilized youth to get involved in their communities and for people to use their voice to protect their human rights. if you want to talk about public servants abusing privilege, lying, and corruption, there are bigger fish to fry – look at our President and the GOP, and let those who are making a difference do it. We need their voice.