WikiLeaks: Clinton speeches avoided blaming Wall Street
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton generally avoided direct criticism of Wall Street as she examined the causes and responses to the financial meltdown during a series of paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, according to transcripts disclosed Saturday by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
Three transcripts released as part of the hack of her campaign chairman’s emails did not contain any bombshells showing she was unduly influenced by contributions from the banking industry, as her primary rival Bernie Sanders had suggested.
Still, her soft-handed approach in the speeches was likely to act as a reminder to liberals in the party of their concerns that the Democratic presidential nominee is too close to Wall Street to be an effective check on its excesses if elected.
In October 2013, the transcripts show, Clinton told bankers she had “great relations” and worked closely with Wall Street as New York’s senator, and said “the jury is still out” on whether the DoddFrank financial reforms put in place after the financial crisis had been the right approach. She said more openness from the start could have prevented the uproar on Wall Street over those reforms.
“What happened, how did it happen, how do we prevent it from happening? You guys help us figure it out, and let’s make sure that we do it right this time,” she said.
Working to relate her speech to her audience, Clinton in one speech likened her experience as secretary of state to business and finance, saying “it’s like anybody’s balance sheet,” with both opportunities and potential liabilities. In one exchange, a conference participant told Clinton that she had “the honor to raise money for you” during her 2008 presidential campaign.
Clinton responded, “You are the smartest people.”
The transcripts ended up becoming public because Clinton’s campaign aides had distributed them among themselves in an effort to prepare for any attacks she might face.
Those internal campaign emails were then leaked in the hack of campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails.
Clinton’s campaign neither confirmed nor denied that the speech transcripts and leaked Podesta emails are authentic, but there have been no indications that they were doctored before being released. Clinton’s team has accused Russia’s government of hacking Podesta’s emails.
In Saturday’s batch of emails, an aide to Michael Bloomberg confirmed to Clinton’s aides in June 2015 that the former New York City mayor would not run for president.
“Is there something Mike Bloomberg would want to do in his life in an Admin? Is like Ambassador to China way too small,” replied Neera Tanden, who heads the Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy and advocacy group.
“Secty of state Which ain’t gonna happen,” wrote Howard Wolfson, a senior adviser to Bloomberg.
Still, Tanden forwarded the email to Podesta.
“Something to know for down the road,” she wrote.