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Mika Brzezinksi Criticizes Clinton on Refusal to Release Wall Street Transcripts

April 15, 2016

The panel on Morning Joe on Friday went after Hillary Clinton's paid speeches from Wall Street firms and discussed Thursday night's Democratic debate.

The panel discussed the issue of Clinton's speeches and how they came up in the debate with her opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).

"This debate was incredible," host Mika Brzezinski said.

"The mutual contempt these two have for each other at this stage is off the charts," Mike Barnicle said.

"The issue of Wall Street took center stage," Brzezinski said.

During the debate, Clinton said again that she would only release the transcripts from her speeches when the other presidential candidates release theirs. This sparked irritation from Brzezinski, who leans left and has said she would support Clinton in the general election.

"So she'll do it when Ted Cruz releases his speeches? That's just not, you guys, come on," Brzezinski said. "She knew she was going to run for president and felt the need to make the money or what, but let us see the speeches. Let us see the speeches."

Clinton has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats over her refusal to release the transcripts. Goldman Sachs paid Clinton $675,000 for three speeches and Cisco paid her $325,000, just to name a couple. These payments along with other donations Clinton has received from Wall Street executives has led to criticism about where she really stands on big businesses, especially those in the financial sector.

Clinton's statement that she wants other candidates to release their transcripts has faced some pushback since she is the only one to have been paid such high sums to speak.

MSNBC host Chris Matthews pressed Clinton ally Andrew Cuomo on the matter Thursday night, saying, "Everybody knows you take money from somebody, it’s going to look like some kind of a deal under the table. Hillary Clinton’s taken over $600,000 from Goldman Sachs. Isn’t that going to be a problem explaining that there’s not a quid pro quo there, that she wasn’t bought?"