Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is not letting President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate get in the way of his campaigning ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Sanders, one of the 2020 Democratic front-runners, is chartering at least one private jet for the duration of the trial to take him to and from Iowa without the delays incurred from flying commercial.

Sanders should have more than enough dough to afford the luxurious method of transportation — he raised $34.5 million in the final quarter of 2019 and brought in $96 million over the course of the entire year.

Despite this, his campaign has declined to comment to multiple news outlets, including The Post, about his jet use.

The campaign feels uncomfortable disclosing the Vermont senator’s use of a private jet to the media, mostly due to fears of the optics of a far-left populist being seen using such an exclusive form of travel, people close to Sanders’ team tell the Washington Examiner.

President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee and his private business empire were hit with a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that his luxury hotel in Washington illegally received more than $1 million from inauguration-related event space rentals that were grossly overpriced and in some cases not even used.

The suit filed by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine alleges that city’s laws governing nonprofit organizations were violated when the Trump International Hotel charged the Presidential Inaugural Committee inflated prices to use ballrooms and other spaces during the festivities surrounding Trump’s swearing-in three years ago.

In a conference call announcing the suit, Racine accused the committee, the Trump Organization and the hotel of “blatantly and unlawfully abusing nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.”

While donations to the inaugural committee were not tax deductible, the organization was a nonprofit and received tax advantages from that status, the D.C. attorney general added.

“Nonprofits are unique entities that function as public trusts,” said Racine, who is trying to recover the money from the Trump businesses so it can be put to public benefit. “The committee has a legal responsibility to avoid unreasonable, wasteful expenses,” he said.

Today, Common Cause filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleging reason to believe that Our Revolution, a nonprofit political organization established by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016 and now supporting his 2020 presidential campaign, violated the federal ‘soft money’ ban. Sen. Sanders has been a longtime critic of super PACs and so-called “Dark Money” groups. The complaint documents that Our Revolution has solicited contributions explicitly to elect Sanders president, received contributions far in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit and spent funds in connection with federal elections, including current voter mobilization efforts supporting Sanders in Iowa.

Under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, an entity directly or indirectly established by a federal candidate or officeholder is not allowed to “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds in connection with an election for Federal office” unless the “funds are subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of federal law.

According to Our Revolution’s tax returns showing contribution amounts but not contributor names, data compiled and first reported by the Associated Press, from 2016 to 2018 Our Revolution raised almost $1 million dollars from contributors who gave in excess of the applicable $5,000 contribution limit, including multiple contributions of between $100,000 and $300,000. Our Revolution has not disclosed any of its contributors to the FEC, as required by federal campaign finance law.

Iron Workers Union Endorses Joe Biden’s Campaign

Iron Workers Union Picks Vice President Biden to Champion Workers’ Rights

Washington – On Wednesday, the International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers endorsed Joe Biden for president. The endorsement was based on key issues that matter to the union members and reflects their values.

Biden is the only presidential candidate who has passed an infrastructure bill in Congress and administered an infrastructure stimulus in the White House. He took the lead on releasing the first infrastructure plan among Democratic candidates, offering the best value for the building trades. The Iron Workers union believes that a Biden administration would invest heavily in transportation infrastructure and manufacturing across the country.

“Vice President Biden has proven again and again that he is a friend to union ironworkers,” said the Iron Workers General President Eric Dean. “We need a president who will defend rights and jobs of American workers, and Joe Biden will be that president.”

Joe Biden will push legislation to repeal Right to Work laws across the country. He will defend time-tested Registered Apprenticeship Programs, stand up to special interests, and work to save the hard-earned benefits that union members deserve. The Trump administration’s continued threats to impose Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs on the construction industry makes this move particularly urgent.

"Joe Biden is running for president to rebuild the middle class, and to him that means protecting and growing unions and collective bargaining,” said Biden campaign manager Greg Schultz. “We are proud to have the support of the Iron Workers because unions and the workers who make up their membership, built America and the middle class. Together, we'll restore the dignity of work."

Joe Biden is the best presidential candidate who listened to the unions on how to protect jobs and workers’ rights. As president, he will ensure the building trades are an integral part of the nation’s future.

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The Iron Workers (IW) represents 130,000 ironworkers in North America who work in construction on bridges; structural steel; ornamental, architectural, and miscellaneous metals; rebar; and in fabrication shops.

or example, the Sanders campaign sent out an edited transcript of something Biden said about Social Security, claiming that he agreed with former Republican Speaker Paul Ryan. Politifact rated that statement false. Here is the part of the speech they left out.
Now, I don’t know a whole lot of people in the top one-tenth of 1 percent or the top 1 percent who are relying on Social Security when they retire. I don’t know a lot of them. Maybe you guys do. So we need a pro-growth, progressive tax code that treats workers as job creators, as well, not just investors; that gets rid of unprotective loopholes like stepped-up basis; and it raises enough revenue to make sure that the Social Security and Medicare can stay, it still needs adjustments, but can stay; and pay for the things we all acknowledge will grow the country.

Since the campaign got caught in that lie, Sanders supporters have attempted to claim that Biden has been advocating for cutting Social Security for 40 years. As is often the case with disinformation, that is based on a half-truth. To solve a budget impasse in 1995, Biden supported a freeze on all federal spending, including cost of living adjustments to Social Security. Then there was his support for an Obama proposal to change the way cost of living increases were calculated, including both the income tax tables and Social Security. But the Sanders campaign turned those positions into an accusation that Biden attempted to “slash Social Security.”
An honest look at the totality of Biden’s position on Social Security would come from listening to Jared Bernstein, a progressive economist who served as an advisor to the former vice president.
https://twitter.com/econjared/status/1218900635908747264
.....Some of us spoke up when Sanders hired David Sirota because his modus operandi was obvious to anyone who knew his history. Sirota has a reputation of being a ruthless attack dog. The campaign had to know that when they hired him. But now it seems that Sirota went too far with his attacks and his boss has been forced to apologize.

It is clear that the Sanders campaign will rely on attacks against his opponents. But this latest incident demonstrates that they are still struggling with where the boundaries are for those negative attacks. It is good to know that, at least for the candidate himself, accusing Biden of being corrupt is outside the boundary.

Former Vice President Joe Biden picked up a key North Carolina endorsement Monday.

State Sen. Paul Lowe, chairman of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus, endorsed Biden for president. The caucus includes 39 state lawmakers, including members of other ethnic minority groups. Lowe is a pastor who represents Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

Biden, a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, has had a lead with African-American voters throughout the campaign.

“This Country is more divided today than at any time since the Civil War. In order to heal those divides we must elect leadership that will work to bring all of us together,” Lowe said in a statement. “Vice President Joe Biden will begin the process of bringing all Americans together: One America for all!”