When the US was considering the Panama Free Trade Agreement in 2011, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke out against the deal, calling Panama a leader in tax evasion. In light of this week's Panama papers scandal [1], his words could have significant meaning for his campaign.

The "Panama papers" refers to a massive leak that revealed some of the world's leaders and wealthiest people have moved money to secret offshore accounts to evade taxes. Since the leak was unveiled on Sunday, the Prime Minister of Iceland has resigned [2] due to his connections.

In a video released by his campaign, we see Sanders say that trading with such a small country as Panama would not increase American jobs. He continues:

"Why would we be considering a trade agreement with Panama? What's going on there? Well, it turns out Mr. President, that Panama is a world leader when it comes to allowing wealthy Americans and large corporations to evade US taxes by stashing their chash in offshore tax heavens. And the Panama Free Trade Agreement would make this bad situation much worse."

The Panama Free Trade agreement eventually went into affect in 2012 and was supported by Sanders's rival Hillary Clinton. This revelation could be a boost to his campaign — after all, it reinforces his platform as someone who fights against the shady dealings of the wealthy and large corporations, while many consider Clinton someone who favors the interests of the elite [3].

Neither candidate has yet to comment on the scandal, but they'll most likely be asked about it when they debate next Thursday in Brooklyn, NY [4]. The two go up against each other today during the Wisconsin primary.