Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) again called on his rival Hillary Clinton to release the transcripts of the speeches she gave to Wall Street.
“While we are on Wall Street, one of us has a Super PAC,” Sanders said Sunday evening at the CNN debate in Michigan. “One of us has raised $15 million from Wall Street for that super PAC, one of us has given speeches on Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“Now, I kind of think if you get paid a couple hundred thousand dollars for a speech, it must be a great speech. I think we should release it and let the American people see what that transcript was,” Sanders said.
“Secretary Clinton wanted everyone else to release it. Well I’m your Democratic opponent, I release it,” Sanders said. “Here it is. There ain’t nothing! I don’t give speeches to Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars. You got it.”
In February, the New York Times editorial board also called on Clinton to release the transcript, saying:
Public interest in these speeches is legitimate, and it is the public — not the candidate — who decides how much disclosure is enough. By stonewalling on these transcripts Mrs. Clinton plays into the hands of those who say she’s not trustworthy and makes her own rules. Most important, she is damaging her credibility among Democrats who are begging her to show them that she’d run an accountable and transparent White House.