Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and his wife, Jane Sanders have hired prominent defense attorneys, amid an FBI investigation into a loan Jane Sanders obtained to expand Burlington College while she was its president, CBS News confirms.Politico Magazine first reported the Sanders had hired lawyers to defend them in the probe. Sanders top adviser Jeff Weaver told CBS News the couple has sought legal protection over federal agents  allegations from a January 2016 complaint accusing then-President of Burlington College, Ms. Sanders, of distorting donor levels in a 2010 loan application for $10 million from People s United Bank to purchase 33 acres of land for the institution.According to Politico, prosecutors might also be looking into allegations that Sen. Sanders  office inappropriately urged the bank to approve the loan.Heat Street  When Jane O Meara Sanders served as president of Burlington College between 2004 and 2011, she oversaw an aggressive effort to enroll more students and expand the campus to accommodate a bigger student body. Part of that plan: Taking out hefty loans to finance the $10 million purchase of 32 acres of prime property from the Roman Catholic diocese at the end of 2010.But Burlington College soon found itself unable to make its loan payments. The Roman Catholic diocese, which had sold off the land to help pay for a $17 million sexual-abuse settlement, ultimately lost between $1.5 million and $2 million, according to the letter calling for investigation, as well as several Vermont media outlets. The diocese did not respond to a request for an interview. But a source with direct knowledge of the diocese s involvement in the land acquisition says Burlington College almost immediately struggled to meet its obligations. It was within a relatively short time after closing [the deal], they were experiencing financial problems that made it impossible to pay the diocese,  the source says, adding that Burlington soon went into default mode on its loan.Parishioners now say that to secure loans to buy the land, Ms. Sanders misrepresented the amount that had been pledged to the college in its fundraising push.The request for investigation notes that defrauding a bank is a federal crime; it s punishable by up to 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines, according to federal code. Watch Sanders rail against inequality and corruption at his commencement speech to the 2017 graduating class at Brooklyn College: Ms. Sanders  push for the liberal arts college s costly land acquisition was cited in a press release by the college when it shut down in 2016. And as for the claim that Ms. Sanders manipulated the loan application, Weaver  said,  The loan was approved by the financial board at the college. Sen. Sanders, formerly mayor of Burlington, Vermont s largest city, regards the claims as a political game levied against him after his run for president in the 2016 primary election, a platform which has transformed the small-state senator into an influential voice in American liberal politics.   CBS News 