Bennington Banner Sanders paid wife, stepdaughter for campaign efforts By EVAN LEHMANN, MediaNews Group Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — Rep. Bernard Sanders used campaign donations to pay his wife and stepdaughter more than $150,000 for campaign-related work since 2000, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Jane O’Meara Sanders, his wife, received $91,020 between 2002 and 2004 for “consultation” and for negotiating the purchase of television and radio time-slots for Sanders’ advertisements, according to records and interviews. Approximately $61,000 of that was “pass through” money that was used to pay media outlets for advertising time, Jane O’Meara Sanders said in an interview. The rest, about $30,000, she kept as payment for her services, she said. Carina Driscoll, daughter to Jane O’Meara Sanders and stepdaughter to the lawmaker, earned $65,002 in “wages” between 2000 and 2004, campaign records show. Driscoll, a former state legislator, served as Rep. Sanders’ campaign manager in 2000, his fund-raiser and office manager in 2003 and his database manager in 2004, according to Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ chief of staff. “Both of them are regarded as people who are knowledgable about Vermont politics,” Weaver said Tuesday. “They earned every penny they got.” It seems Sanders is the Continue reading →
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