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Sanders Institute suspends operations amid criticism over donations (donor names kept secret)
NYPOST.COM ^ | 3/14/19 | Chris Perez With Post wires

Posted on 03/15/2019 4:50:36 AM PDT by Liz

The “nonprofit” think tank founded by Bernie Sanders’ wife and son is closing after criticisms over its donations. The Vermont-based Institute is suspending all operations by May — “so there could not even be an appearance of impropriety his wife explained. “....the most important thing is to not accept donations. Nobody should think giving money gains access or favor to anybody running for office.”

Jane and her son, David Driscoll, founded the Sanders Institute in 2017 claiming that it would "research and promote liberal policies." Instead, people have accused them of selling their loyalty to the rich and powerful. Bernie Sanders blasted Hillary in the 2016 election. “It is obscene that Secy Clinton keeps going to big-money people to fund her campaign,” he told CNN.

Driscoll reportedly got paid about $100,000 last year. They raised about $730,000 — and another $459,000 in 2017. They Sanders family told AP that “small donations came from about 10,000 donors.” “We haven’t disclosed names and amounts because we’ve relied mainly on small donor contributions from thousands of people,” Driscoll said, and said “the bulk” come from donors that “contribute less than $100.”

“Some of our biggest contributors were organizations that came on to partner with us for the Sanders Institute Gathering, such as National Nurses United, Healthy Housing Foundation and Our Revolution.”

Jane Sanders told the NYT they “didn’t think about the Clinton or Trump foundation” when deciding whether it was right to stop taking donations. “We just thought, I’m going to be very active [on the campaign trail],” said Jane, 69. “It’s just too mushy — it could become too mushy. We wanted to safeguard it.” Brooklyn native Mrs Sanders maintained the move was a “suspension, not a shutdown.”“The work will definitely come back,” she said.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: berniesanders; secretdonations; thinktank
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To: All
THIS---LET'S ASK BERNIE

An FEC complaint was filed against AOC alleging her COS, Saikat Chakrabarti, created multiple private
companies---LLCs---- to siphon off campaign contributions from her various PACs for her personal use......

BTW, besides socialism (gag)....Bernie and AOC have a lot in common.
AOC’s COS used to be Bernie’s....wait for it....."Director of Organizing Technology."

AND THIS--Saikat Chakrabarti, is a proven tech expert.
(A) He co-founded a web design tool,
(B) He built up the product team at the payment processor "Stripe".........
(C) He then came to the Sanders campaign after (cough) growing disillusioned with the tech world.

Saikat Chakrabarti was Bernie's Director of Organizing Technology. Even old man Bernie knew enough to hire a tech expert.

So, I guess (smirk) Chakrabarti's tech skills musta come in mighty handy when donations to Bernie were wire-transferred to the DNC
and ended up in Hillary's account. Debbie W/S headed the DNC at the time and was ousted b/c of her bias for Hillary. Course, none of us heard about any of this, but.....
<><> Chakrabarti-the-tech-whiz did find out about the DNC theft, didnt he?
<><> Chakrabarti did speak to D/W/S about it, or to Debbie's tech expert, Imran Awan, didnt he?
<><> Chakrabarti did tell Bernie he was fleeced, didnt he?
<><> Chakrabarti WAS working for Bernie, wasnt he?

===============================================

Now the details about that FEC complaint: The FEC complaint asserts that AOC's COS, Saikat Chakrabarti,
early on established two PACs that raised big bucks for AOC's campaign:
<><> the Brand New Congress PAC, and,
<><> Justice Democrats PAC.

After mucho money was raised, Chakrabarti systematically transferred $885,000+ in PAC contributions to his private companies with similar names:
<><> the Brand New Campaign LLC, and,
<><> the Brand New Congress LLC.

NOTE: Saikat Chakrabarti's private companies, unlike PACs, are exempt from reporting all of their significant expenditures.

Keep in mind it is a much-used criminal act to open bank accounts using similarly named entities as Chakrabarti did.

It's easy to siphon off money for oneself by putting checks into the new accounts with similar names, depositing checks that were made out to the original entity.

Even your bank advises you that if the check-writer "mis-spelled" your name.....to just endorse the check with the correct name.

AND PRESTO: a check made out to Brand New Congress PAC, is deposited in the Brand New Congress LLC account.

==========================================
ANALYSIS --- Chakrabarti's companies appear to have been set up for the sole purpose of obscuring how AOC's donations were used. The arrangement skirted reporting requirements and may have violated the $5,000 limit on contributions, according to the FEC complaint filed by the National Legal and Policy Center, a government watchdog group.

Campaign finance attorneys described the arrangement as “really weird” and an indication "there’s something amiss." They said there was no way of telling where the political donations went — meaning (A) the donations could have been pocketed, or, (B) used by the LLC's to pay for off-the-books campaign operations.---SNIP---SOURCED FROM FR.

===================================

JUST WONDERING .....does Chakrabarti have a reputation among Democraps for facilitating the conversion of campaign donations?

Maybe we should ask Bernie (/s)?

21 posted on 03/15/2019 7:17:33 AM PDT by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: Bon mots

Gonna steal these, they’re great. Did you make ‘em or find ‘em?


22 posted on 03/15/2019 7:20:49 AM PDT by little jeremiah (When we do not punish evildoers we are ripping the foundations of justice from future generations)
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To: ronnie raygun; Liz
Reminds me of the off shore accounts several years back that got a lot of attention, with fat head ted and others. The rats are using their political offices as money generating machines for their personnel use and to amass riches not gotten on a salary. Foundations should be open for the public viewing...

You're right - ALL of them. They take tax benefits - the public has a right to know...

23 posted on 03/15/2019 7:38:35 AM PDT by GOPJ (Democrats are attacking Ivanka & Jared ostensibly on security clearances - reality is antisemitism)
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To: Gasshog

That investigation went the same way as most every other investigation of a D. Nowhere.


24 posted on 03/15/2019 7:53:07 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.)
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To: Liz
Think about the microscope President Trumps friends have been put under, by the DOJ and Muller probe.

Sanders and the ComDems get a pass and the appointed unaccountable unelected Bureaucraps under Obama and the holdovers put the Conservatives under the microscope to find any dirty pass. Pick a name and they will find his crime from the great database in the sky.

Daylight Disinfectant is long long overdue for the ComDem privileged class in DC.

25 posted on 03/15/2019 7:54:40 AM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Durbin

[The Sanders family should also give 70% of their assets to the less fortunate. In the name of Democratic Socialism of course.]

Don’t be ridiculous.

It should be 90%!!!

:)


26 posted on 03/15/2019 11:01:43 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: Liz

What kind of idiot would donate their money to this????


27 posted on 03/15/2019 11:42:00 AM PDT by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: SaveFerris

You’re so silly, you forgot it’s, “Do as I say not as I do.”


28 posted on 03/15/2019 11:43:17 AM PDT by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: leaning conservative

LOL

I just need to toss an election to Hillary and I’m set for life!

It’s the Bernie model!


29 posted on 03/15/2019 11:47:55 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: leaning conservative

A complete and total idiot.


30 posted on 03/15/2019 11:55:35 AM PDT by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: Liz

Bumping for (as usual) incredible research and action info.


31 posted on 03/15/2019 12:33:38 PM PDT by little jeremiah (When we do not punish evildoers we are ripping the foundations of justice from future generations)
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To: little jeremiah
Gonna steal these, they’re great. Did you make ‘em or find ‘em?

I made them all. Steal away!

32 posted on 03/15/2019 5:55:44 PM PDT by Bon mots
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To: Bon mots

I posted on this thread, feel free to post anything you want. I try to keep up with it but have had gaps and don’t know how to make graphics, nor do I have the time to learn.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3648238/posts?page=1053#1053


33 posted on 03/15/2019 9:03:17 PM PDT by little jeremiah (When we do not punish evildoers we are ripping the foundations of justice from future generations)
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To: Liz

Yes, indeed. Bernie and his dachas come with a price. Socialism for you but not for me. And then there’s wifey’s bankrupting of that pretty university. Beautiful location.


34 posted on 03/16/2019 5:48:01 AM PDT by combat_boots (God bless Israel and all who protect and defend her! Merry Christmas! In God We Trust!)
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