Early on in what instantly became a heated CNN Democratic Debate on Thursday, co-moderator Dana Bash repeatedly spared with Hillary Clinton over her refusal to release the transcripts of her paid speeches to large Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and when Clinton ducked her questions, Bash told her that this is “not about the Republicans” she despises.
At the 18-minute mark of the debate, Bash turned to Clinton and first acknowledged that her opponent in Bernie Sanders has continually been “bringing up the speeches that you gave to Goldman Sachs.”
Bash then wondered how, if Clinton had nothing to hide in the speeches, she has declined to follow through on her promise to release them: “You've said you don't want to release the transcripts, until everybody does it, but if there's nothing in those speeches that you think would change voters' minds, why not release the transcripts and put this whole issue to bed?”
Before trying to claim that a Senate vote by Sanders helped usher in the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Clinton smirked and stated that “there isn’t an issue” because “[w]hen I was in public service serving as the Senator from New York, I did stand up to the banks.”
Bash quickly realized that this answer would suffice so she reminded Clinton what the original question was about: “Secretary Clinton, the question was about the transcripts of the speeches to Goldman Sachs. Why not release them?”
Once again, the former secretary of state was non-committal and instead complained that this demand “is a new one” when it comes to being a presidential candidate:
I have said, look — there are certain expectations when you run for president. This is a new one, and I've said, if everybody agrees to do it, because there are speeches for money on the other side. I know that, but I will tell you this — there is a long-standing expectation that everybody running release their tax returns[.]
Bash and co-moderator Wolf Blitzer moved on soon after this, but not before Bash informed Clinton that not just Republicans but many Democrats want her to come clean:
BASH: Secretary Clinton, we're going to get to the tax returns later, but just to put a button on this. You're running now for the Democratic nomination and it is your opponent and many Democratic voters who want to see those transcripts. It's not about the Republicans at this point.
CLINTON: And — you know, let's set the same standard for everybody. When everybody does it, okay, I will do it, but let's set and expect the same standard on tax returns. Everybody does it, and then we move forward.
The relevant portion of the transcript from the CNN Democratic Debate on April 14 can be found below.
CNN Democratic Debate
April 14, 2016
9:18 p.m. Eastern
DANA BASH: Secretary Clinton, if I may, Senator Sanders keeping bringing up the speeches that you gave to Goldman Sachs. You've said you don't want to release the transcripts, until everybody does it, but if there's nothing in those speeches that you think would change voters' minds, why not release the transcripts and put this whole issue to bed?
HILLARY CLINTON: You know, first of all — first of all, there isn't an issue. When I was in public service serving as the Senator from New York, I did stand up to the banks. I did make it clear that their behavior would not be excused. I'm the only one on this stage who did not vote to deregulate swaps and derivatives, as Senator Sanders did, which led to a lot of the problems that we had with Lehman Brothers. Now, if you're going to look at the problems that actually caused the Great Recession, you've got to look at the whole picture. It was a giant insurance company, AIG. It was an investment bank, Lehman Brothers. It was mortgage companies like Countrywide. I'm not saying that Senator Sanders did something under toward when he voted to deregulate —
BASH: Madam secretary —
CLINTON: But the fact is he did and that contributed to the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
BASH: What about the transfers?
INDEPENDENT SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS: Hold it, hold it.
BASH: Senator Sanders, one second, please. Secretary Clinton, the question was about the transcripts of the speeches to Goldman Sachs. Why not release them?
CLINTON: I have said, look — there are certain expectations when you run for president. This is a new one, and I've said, if everybody agrees to do it, because there are speeches for money on the other side. I know that, but I will tell you this — there is a long-standing expectation that everybody running release their tax returns, and you can go — you can go to my website and see eight years of tax returns, and I've released 30 years of tax returns, and I think every candidate, including Senator Sanders and Donald Trump, should do the same.
BASH: Secretary Clinton, we're going to get to the tax returns later, but just to put a button on this. You're running now for the Democratic nomination and it is your opponent and many Democratic voters who want to see those transcripts. It's not about the Republicans at this point.
CLINTON: And — you know, let's set the same standard for everybody. When everybody does it, okay, I will do it, but let's set and expect the same standard on tax returns. Everybody does it, and then we move forward.
WOLF BLITZER: Thank you.
