Has Hillary Clinton's Excuse For Not Releasing Wall Street Speech Transcripts Evaporated?

  • by: Alan Duke

Hillary Clinton has said she would only release transcripts of her paid speeches to Wall Street audiences after all other presidential candidates -- including Republicans -- did the same. But with the GOP race over with only billionaire Donald Trump standing, has Clinton's condition been met?

"Why is there one standard for me, and not for everybody else?" Clinton asked at a Democratic town hall in February. She conceded that she would make the speeches public "if everybody does it, and that includes Republicans."

In April at a debate in New York, CNN reporter Dana Bash asked Clinton "If there's nothing in those speeches that will change voters' minds, why not just release the transcripts and put these speeches to bed?"

"If everybody agrees to do it -- there are other speeches from money on the other side, I understand that," Clinton responded.

Ted Cruz, whose wife is a Goldman Sachs executive, and all other contenders are out. Can Clinton still stall by raising the double standard argument? Will she suggest that Donald Trump has been paid to give secret speeches?

Bernie Sanders, who has never been paid to speak to Wall Street, has repeatedly mocked that response by saying he has released transcripts.

Clinton has also suggested she would release transcripts only after Bernie Sanders matched her tax return release. Sanders released his 2014 return last month, but said his wife was gathering other recent years for release. Jane Sanders recently said she has them together and will make them public as soon as Clinton releases the speeches.

Clinton, who appears destined to be the Democratic presidential nominee, and her husband, President Bill Clinton, "earned in excess of $25 million for delivering 104 speeches since the beginning of 2014, a huge infusion to their net worth as she was readying for a presidential bid," according to the Washington Post. Three of her speeches to Goldman Sachs earned her $675,000.


  Alan Duke

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke

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