Hillary Clinton told MSNBC’s Morning Joe Friday that she ‘think[s]’ she has been transparent about her ties to Wall Street, and then promptly refused to release the transcripts for her pricey speeches at big banks.
Clinton said Tuesday that she will not release the transcripts for the speeches, which averaged $225,000 per gig with Goldman Sachs, until her Republican rivals--who are not under similar scrutiny--also release transcripts from their speeches.
Host Mika Brzezinski asked Clinton whether, instead of insisting on a "level playing field," it wasn’t more important to be transparent and release the transcripts.
"Isn't it more important perhaps to be transparent to Democratic voters about what you said to big banks behind closed doors?" Brzezinski said.
Clinton said she thought she had been transparent.
"Well, I think I have been transparent. I have a record. I'm not coming to this for the first time," Clinton said and told the hosts that she has a long, public history of fighting Wall Street.
"People can go back. They can look at what I said and what I did when I was a senator," Clinton said. "I'm the one who called out Wall Street. I actually went to Wall Street in ‘07. I said, you guys are going to wreck the economy, and I went after hedge fund loopholes."
Despite her transparency and her "public record" of advocating against big banks, Clinton again refused in the interview with Morning Joe to release the transcripts until everyone else released theirs.
"Let's get everybody out on the same field. I feel like, you know, I don't mind being responsive. I don't mind answering questions but at some point I want everybody to have to answer," Clinton said.
Clinton has justified her high speaking fees by saying that "everybody" accepts such fees, and that she accepted $675,000 from Goldman Sachs because "that’s what they offered."