Bernie Sanders is part of the swamp

Senator Bernie Sanders says he will change Washington, but do not be fooled by his message. He is just as much a part of the problem as any of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates. Establishment politicians are desperate to protect the swamp against President Trump, who clearly represents a genuine threat to the racket they have set up in the halls of power. Sanders, the socialist who has called for a “political revolution,” is no different. He protects his special insider friends while profiting from the culture of corruption and greed that has long prevailed in our capital.

As Peter Schweizer details in his book, “Profiles in Corruption,” Sanders has used his public offices to siphon off millions of taxpayer dollars to his own family and friends over the past three decades, including more than $80 million in payments to a media buying firm owned by two friends of his wife. There is also the case of Burlington College, which was forced to close as a result of mismanagement by his wife, who as president of the school secured expensive loans based on inflated donor commitments. Some suggest that Sanders may have used his influence to pressure the bank into approving the loan despite several inconsistencies in financial documentation. While the federal government closed its investigation in the matter, it did not exonerate either Sanders or his wife in the dealings.

Even Hillary Clinton, the queen of the swamp, thinks his schtick against corruption is a fraud. As she recently told the Hollywood Reporter, “He was a career politician. It is all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.” Bernie is so deeply immersed in the swamp that he cannot even call out the dealings of his main rival Joe Biden. The former vice president cozied up to Delaware credit card companies and banks when he was in the Senate, and leading the bankruptcy legislation that protected prederatory companies at the expense of American citizens.

We already know about his efforts to protect his son from the corruption probe in Ukraine, all thanks to the liberal crusade to remove Trump from office through impeachment for trying to get to the bottom of that very matter. But Sanders still refuses to call out the Bidens by name. Instead, he insists that Biden is not corrupt and repudiates his own supporters for calling out obvious ethical shortcomings of his rival. So even if Sanders is trying to avoid appearing too critical of a fellow Democratic presidential candidate, his timidity makes it clear that he could not be counted on to confront corruption from the White House. The nation deserves better.

Indeed, Trump made a promise to end such Washington dealings and to return power to the American people. Despite all the fervent opposition from the political establishment, he has made significant progress toward accomplishing that goal. It is no coincidence that one of his first actions after taking office was to fire James Comey, who is now the subject of yet another investigation into his leaks of classified information to advance his own interests. Sanders wants voters to view him as an outsider who will revolutionize Washington, but he is no different from any of the other career politicians who are competing to run against our president in the election this fall. The only genuine reformer running in the race is Trump.

Madison Gesiotto is an attorney who serves with the advisory board of the Donald Trump campaign. You can follow her on Twitter @MadisonGesiotto.