ADVERTISEMENT

Democratic Congressman Dodges on Releasing Transcripts of Clintons' Paid Wall Street Speeches

June 22, 2016

Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.) dodged when CNN's Carol Costello asked him on Wednesday about releasing the transcripts from Bill and Hillary Clintons' paid speeches to Wall Street firms.

This comes after Donald Trump has attacked Clinton over those speeches, since she has routinely criticized Wall Street on the campaign trail.

"Mr. Trump will also likely hammer Mrs. Clinton and her husband on how much money they made in speaking fees, allegedly fueled by Clinton's time in the State Department. CNN found between 2001 and 2015, the Clintons earned more than $153 million for 729 separate speeches," Costello said. "Some of those speeches were delivered to groups with ties to foreign countries. Mr. Trump will likely charge Clinton turned the State Department into what he calls a private hedge fund. Why is he wrong?"

"Presidents have been giving speeches after they've left office, certainly since Ronald Reagan, who received a much bigger speaking fee when he went to Japan than anything that I think any president has earned since. Now it's true that President Clinton has given probably and Secretary Clinton has probably given more speeches. They've worked hard at it," Sherman said. "But in terms of what people are willing to pay to bring to their audience, a former president of the United States, there are groups that are willing to pay a lot, and they certainly paid Ronald Reagan a lot more than they paid Hillary or Bill."

"But sir, $153 million? Isn't it time that Hillary Clinton release the transcripts of those Wall Street speeches? Wouldn't that put this matter to rest?" Costello asked.

"I'm sure that would do nothing to put the matter to rest, just because Trump will never rest. His negatives are so extreme, he's called by Speaker Ryan a textbook racist. He will do nothing but attack, attack, attack," Sherman said. "The Clintons have been under attack for 25 years. And of course, Trump will try to continue that. The problem he has is it's all out on the table."

"Won't it put to rest, won't it put voters' minds to rest if Hillary Clinton released the transcripts of those speeches? After all, Bernie Sanders called for her to do that," Costello said.

"Yes, in a primary, many things happen. But the fact is that she has given thousands of speeches that are on the record. We know what she has to say. We know what her positions are and of course, her webpage lays out her positions for the future," Sherman said. "You go to the Trump web page and all you see is attacks. All you see is vile. We need a positive prescription for the future of this country and you'll see that in Hillary's program."