Wikileaks releases what appear to be transcripts of Hillary Clinton's private speeches
Transcripts of Hillary Clinton's private speeches appeared to be included in a trove of thousands of emails released by Wikileaks on Friday.
The transcripts reveal Clinton's remarks on a number of topics, including her views on elements of public policy, the financial crisis of 2008, and a self-assessment of her own likability.
Here's some examples:
- In one speech reportedly given at the National Multi-Housing Council in 2013, Clinton asserted that one needs a "both a public and a private position" on policy.
- During a 2014 speech at Goldman-Black Rock, Clinton reportedly admitted that she was "far removed" from her humble beginnings "because [of] the life I've lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy." "But I haven't forgotten it," Clinton allegedly added in that speech.
- Clinton appeared to criticize the response to the financial crisis of 2008, saying at a Goldman Sachs conference in 2013, "I think there's a lot that could have been avoided" if the US government's response to the crisis was handled "with greater transparency."
The highly-sought after speeches given to investment banks like Goldman Sachs and other corporations became an issue for Clinton in the primaries when her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders accused her of taking large donations from Wall Street. When she was pressed about releasing them, the former secretary of state said she "would look into it."
Between 2014 and 2015 Hillary and Bill Clinton earned more than $25 million from private speaking engagements, Reuters reported.
The release of the emails is the latest effort by Wikileaks to reveal sensitive documents in the lead-up to the Nov. 8.