If Hillary Clinton’s answers from last night's MSNBC Democratic Presidential Debate seemed a bit familiar, it might be because you heard her give very comparable answers at an MSNBC debate back in 2007.
During the September 26, 2007 debate on MSNBC, the late NBC correspondent Tim Russert asked Hillary whether the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Library should disclose their donors. Hillary's response: "Well, you'll have to ask them," adding later that she was "sure" that Bill would be "happy to consider that."
Flash forward to February 4, 2016, when Hillary found herself in a similar situation on the same network, being asked by NBC Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd whether or not she'll release the transcripts from her speeches to Goldman Sachs speeches. "I'll look into it. I don't know the status, but I can certainly look into it," Clinton answered, before quickly bringing up that it was "stressful advising the President about going after bin Laden."
Here's the video from September 26, 2007:
And here's the video from February 4, 2016:
MSNBC Democratic Presidential Debate: September 26, 2007
TIM RUSSERT: I want to turn to politics and money. Senator Clinton, as you all know, you had to turn back $850,000 in contributions from Norman Hsu because of his rather checkered past.
Again, President Clinton said this, "Now, we don't have to publish all our donors for the Clinton Foundation, but if Hillary became president, I think there would questions about whether people would try to win favor by giving money to me."
In light of that, do you believe that the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton library should publish all the donors who give contributions to those two entities?
HILLARY CLINTON: Well, Tim, I actually co-sponsored legislation that would have sitting presidents reveal any donation to their presidential library, and I think that's a good policy.
RUSSERT: And the foundation?
CLINTON: Well, it would be the same, because that's where the library comes from.
RUSSERT: Until such legislation, would they voluntarily, the Clinton library and Clinton Foundation, make their donors public?
CLINTON: Well, you'll have to ask them.
RUSSERT: What's your recommendation?
CLINTON: Well, I don't talk about my private conversations with my husband, but I'm sure he'd be happy to consider that.
MSNBC Democratic Presidential Debate: February 4, 2016
TODD: Thank you both. Let me move on to our next question here, and in fact it comes to us through New England Cable News.
Secretary Clinton, it's addressed to you, and it's about this issue of the speeches, particularly to Goldman Sachs. This is what the questioner wrote verbatim.
"I am concerned with the abuses of Wall Street has taken with the American taxpayers money," and then she asks whether you would release the transcripts of your Goldman Sachs speeches, and then added, "Don't you think the voting public has a right to know what was said?"
But, let's make that bigger. Are you willing to release the transcripts of all your paid speeches? We do know through reporting that there were transcription services for all of those paid speeches. In full disclosure, would you release all of them?
CLINTON: I will look into it. I don't know the status, but I will certainly look into it. But, I can only repeat what is the fact: that I spoke to a lot of different groups with a lot of different constituents, a lot of different kinds of members about issues that had to do with world affairs. I probably described more times than I can remember how stressful it was advising the President about going after bin Laden.
So my view on this is: look at my record. Look at what I am proposing.
