Hillary Clinton told a Democratic primary town hall in South Carolina last night that she would release transcripts of her pricey corporate speeches if everyone — Republicans included — releases records of what they said when they received speaking fees.
The campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been running the clock — 18 days now — on how long it’s been since Clinton said she would release transcripts of her Goldman Sachs speeches in early February.
When asked for his speech transcripts by CNN host Chris Cuomo in Tuesday night’s town hall, Sanders stressed “that’s not a problem.”
“Look, I have not had a paid speech, it’s against the law to give paid speeches. I have given some speeches, the money was donated to charity. Way, way back I got a few dollars. If I can find the transcripts, I’d be very happy to do it,” the senator said.
“But what Secretary Clinton said, I will do it if other people do it, well, I am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to Wall Street. Here it is, Chris,” Sanders said as he made a gesture of handing nothing to him. “There ain’t none.”
“I don’t get speaker’s fees from Goldman Sachs. It’s not there. So I’m happy to do my best in releasing any of the speeches. It won’t be very shocking to anybody.”
After Sanders’ turn at bat, Clinton got a chance to respond to the mystery of the missing speeches.
Hillary said she’d release the speeches “if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans, because we know they have made a lot of speeches.”
“But look, what is this about?” she continued. “This is about whether I have the best plan to go after Wall Street, whether I have a record that already demonstrates my willingness to take on Wall Street and financial interests. And there’s no question about that.”
“I did it before the ’08 crash. I have done it since. In this campaign, I have been absolutely clear and a lot of people have said I have the most comprehensive, effective, comprehensive plan to make sure that Wall Street never wrecks Main Street again,” Clinton said. “I’ve also said I will use the tools that President Obama achieved in the Dodd-Frank regulations, best, tightest regulations we’ve had in a long time. And they provide the opportunity to break up the banks, if they pose systemic risks. And I’ve said that I would do that if that becomes the case.”
“All the more reason to move this as an issue. You know everybody is not going to bring up their transcripts. There will be 100 reasons why,” Cuomo said.
“Why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else?” she retorted.
“I have been up front and strong on this issue for a long time, as strong, I would argue, as my esteemed opponent,” Clinton said. “So, you know what, if people are going to ask for things, everybody should be on a level playing field and I’m happy if that were the case.”
Tweeted Bernie: “.@HillaryClinton believes Republicans should set the standard for disclosure of her Wall Street speeches. Aren’t we better than that?”
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