As NewsBusters previously reported, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders followed the motto of “Do as I say, not as I do” when members of the “mainstream media” criticized the socialist Vermont senator for buying a third house.
On Wednesday, Dave Levinthal -- senior reporter for the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity -- posted an article exposing another example of Sanders' motto by revealing the delaying tactics that enabled the “vociferous supporter of political transparency” to request three extensions and avoid posting details of his personal finances.
Levinthal began his post by stating: “As a Democratic presidential hopeful,” Sanders “vociferously argued for political transparency, especially when money was concerned.”
The reporter then noted that Sanders insisted “on complete transparency regarding the funding of campaigns.” He also decried “huge piles of undisclosed cash” that benefited other candidates.
“But when federal law required Sanders to reveal, by mid-May, current details of his personal finances,” Levinthal noted, “his campaign lawyer asked the Federal Election Commission for a 45-day extension.”
“Request granted,” the senior reporter indicated.
Then on June 30, Sanders’ campaign “asked for a second 45-day extension, saying the senator had 'good cause' to delay because of his 'current campaign schedule and officeholder duties,'” Levinthal stated.
“Again, regulators approved Sanders’ punt,” he continued.
Now that Sanders’ second extension has expired, spokesman Michael Briggs confirmed to the center “that the senator won’t file a presidential campaign personal financial disclosure after all.”
“We were told that since the senator no longer is a candidate, there was no requirement to file,” Briggs said.
Federal Election Commission Deputy Press Officer Christian Hilland “verified that Sanders has not filed a personal financial disclosure.”
“He likewise confirmed that Sanders, who technically ceased to be a presidential candidate when Hillary Clinton secured the Democratic presidential nomination on July 26, is no longer required to file one.”
Levinthal indicated that a 2011 legal advisory from the United States Office of Government Ethics provides Sanders cover, stating: “The requirement to file a Public Financial Disclosure Report … ends when the candidate is no longer seeking nomination or election to the office of president.”
“On the one hand,” he reporter asked, “who now -- beside political voyeurs and snoopy journalists, perhaps -- would care about the investments and income of an also-ran presidential candidate who hasn’t been a major factor in Election 2016 for more than two months?”
But on the other hand, Levinthal charged, “Sanders expertly exploited a system that effectively allowed him to delay, delay, delay -- all while he chided Clinton's receipt of six-figure paydays for delivering closed-door speeches to officials at investment bank Goldman Sachs and other powerful special interests.”
Ironically, “both Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump filed their personal financial disclosures on time in mid-May without asking for extensions,” the senior reporter noted before stating:
Therefore, in the teeth of a Democratic primary where Sanders posed a bona fide threat to Clinton, voters couldn’t definitively know whether Sanders -- historically one of the Senate’s least wealthy members -- suddenly parlayed his political fame into personal profit.
“The form Sanders didn’t file would have detailed his finances through the middle of May 2016,” Levinthal added. “His most recent U.S. Senate disclosure, which details only his 2015 assets, show his wealth concentrated in a collection of mutual funds owned by his wife, Jane Sanders.”
“Beyond his Senate salary, Sanders himself draws a small pension from the government of Burlington, Vermont, where he once served as mayor,” the reporter noted. “And he’s also received a handful of modest honoraria for speeches and television show appearances, although he reported donating them to charity.”
Sanders also carried up to $50,000 in credit card debt and up to $1 million in mortgage debt, according to his 2015 U.S. Senate personal financial disclosure form.
The socialist candidate filed his Senate disclosure document on June 6, which somewhat undercuts his campaign’s argument -- made around the same time -- that Sanders was too busy campaigning to complete and submit a presidential disclosure covering his finances during early 2016.
“It’s disappointing that a candidate who spent so much time talking about political reform ... and was critical of Hillary Clinton’s personal finances ... chose not to let us know anything about his own,” said Policy Analyst Richard Skinner of the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for political transparency.
Nevertheless, the public “will eventually find out how Sanders managed his assets while running for president,” Levinthal stated. “As a sitting senator, Sanders must next year file a personal financial disclosure with the U.S. Senate covering calendar year 2016.”
Who knows what Sanders' next example of “Do as I say, not as I do” will be? Only time … and financial disclosure forms … will tell.
