Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is for the first time directly demanding that Hillary Clinton release transcripts for speeches she has given to Wall Street banks.
In a tongue-in-cheek press release, Sanders’ campaign said that it would comply with a request Clinton made during a town hall event in Las Vegas on Thursday for other candidates to release their speech transcripts as well.
Asked by an audience member if she would release her Wall Street speech transcripts, Clinton said she would “when everybody else does.” That was a new qualification for Clinton, who had previously said that she would “look into” releasing the speech transcripts. She had also suggested that other candidates should be asked to release theirs as well.
“Sen. Sanders accepts Clinton’s challenge,” Sanders campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said in a press release Friday. AUDIO: Limbaugh Rips Trump For Supporting Obamacare Mandate
“He will release all of the transcripts of all of his Wall Street speeches. That’s easy. The fact is, there weren’t any. Bernie gave no speeches to Wall Street firms. He wasn’t paid anything while Secretary Clinton made millions, including $675,000 for three paid speeches to Goldman Sachs.”
Sanders and his supporters have pointed to Clinton’s lucrative speeches to Wall Street banks as evidence that she is beholden to the financial services industry. The 74-year-old democratic socialist has called for tougher punishment against the banks, arguing that it is unfair that no Wall Street executives went to jail following the 2008 financial crisis.
Clinton has asserted that she has been and will continue to be tough on the industry. But her opponents have asked her to prove it by releasing speech transcripts to show how she talks to Wall Street executives when the campaign cameras aren’t rolling.
“So now we hope Secretary Clinton keeps her word and releases the transcripts of her speeches,” Briggs said in his statement. “We hope she agrees that the American people deserve to know what she told Wall Street behind closed doors.”
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to the Sanders campaign’s challenge.
