Emails show Clinton treading lightly with Wall Street talks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A key aspect of Methodism social justice comes into play when looking at Clinton’s life as a public servant, says Stephen Gunter of the Duke Divinity School.
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 by WikiLeaks.
Three transcripts released Saturday as part of the hack of her campaign chairman’s emails did not contain any new 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 Dodd-Frank 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 from Texas told Clinton that she had “the honor to raise money for you” during her 2008 presidential campaign.
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Clinton responded, “You are the smartest people.”
In the hard-fought Democratic primary, Sanders repeatedly called on Clinton to release the transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street, some of which earned her hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece. In an ironic twist, the transcripts ended up becoming public because her 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, and the Obama administration has formally blamed Moscow for a series of breaches affecting U.S. political groups.
“There is no getting around it: Donald Trump is cheering on a Russian attempt to influence our election through a crime reminiscent of Watergate, but on a more massive scale,” said Clinton spokesman Glen Caplin.
The transcripts, all from 2013, include speeches and question-and-answer sessions with Clinton at a “Builders and Innovators Summit,” an “Alternative Investment Management Summit” and a gathering of CEOS — all hosted by Goldman Sachs.
A look at some of what Clinton said, according to the transcripts:
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APOLOGY TOUR
Clinton told the innovators summit she’d had to go on “The Clinton Apology Tour” after WikiLeaks in 2010 published diplomatic cables leaked by Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning. Clinton noted that the cables showed U.S. officials characterizing some foreign leaders as “vain, egotistical, power hungry, corrupt. And we knew they were. This was not fiction.”
“I had grown men cry,” Clinton recalled. “I mean, literally. ‘I am a friend of America, and you say these things about me?’”
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SYRIA
Clinton, a few months after departing the State Department in 2013, told a Goldman Sachs conference in South Carolina that she would have liked to see the U.S. intervene in Syria “as covertly as is possible for Americans to intervene.”
She added, “We used to be much better at this than we are now. Now, you know, everybody can’t help themselves. They have to go out and tell their friendly reporters and somebody else: Look what we’re doing and I want credit for it.”
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FILIBUSTER
Clinton appears to call for eliminating the filibuster rules in the Senate that make a 60-vote threshold necessary to pass most items rather than a 50-vote majority. Clinton says “we need to change the rules in the Senate” and say presidential nominees as well as “policies” deserve “an up-or-down vote.”
Republicans are already incensed that Senate Democrats recently changed the rules to eliminate the filibuster for most nominations, an extraordinary step known as the nuclear option.
——
CHINA
In the June 2013 speech, Clinton said Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had taken over as the country’s leader the previous fall, was “a more sophisticated, more effective public leader” than his predecessor, Hu Jintao. Clinton said she had watched Xi “work a room,” adding, “you can have him make small talk with you, which he has done with me.” She said Xi’s experience of visiting Iowa in the 1980s “was a very important part of his own development.”
12 responses to “Emails show Clinton treading lightly with Wall Street talks”
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Two faced Lying Hillary Clinton. Tells close aids, Wall Street, etc. the REAL story, her stance on policies and then turns her head 180degrees spewing lies to the General public and a Benghazi victim family. If that don’t tell you what she’s already done serving in a high held public office and what she’ll probably keep on doing I don’t know what to think of you her supporters, “smh”
Yep, Clinton is going where the money is. She is in bed with Wall Street and big Banks.
Like it or not, we do not live in a perfect world. If you were to read the excerpts above objectively, how could anyone with some common sense conclude she is in bed with Wall Street and the big banks? How would you continue efforts to make meaningful financial reforms?
If only things were so simple, but the reality is quite different. The Dodd-Frank reforms obviously deals with extremely complex issues, with criticisms from both parties.
As to Syria, again a case if only things were so simple, but the reality is quite different. Imho, we are already engaged in a world war and it is not likely to end anytime soon. Would we like to see Isis defeated? Of course, but like it or not, reality is quite different.
Yes Nomu, as filtered through the Associated Press.
Actually, the only thing wrong with Dodd and Frank, is Dodd and Frank.
Treading lightly with Wall St. ??? I’m OUTRAGED!!! lol
Then bragging to the masses that she is tough on wall street. You should be outraged. She lies, and then lies some more. Then she finishes up with more lies. What ever gets her “ahead” in her world.
Yup, the ends justifies the means to an old Alinskyite.
She is whoever she’s talking to. No opinion, only about getting something fir herself. She’s disgusting
The Wall Street speeches are probably Clinton’s biggest mistake. But there is nothing criminal.
First, since she was planning to run for president in the future, she should not have become involved in something that could compromise her image as a leader of the people. My guess is that she just wanted to make some (good) money between gigs. Now I’m sure she wishes she hadn’t.
Second, as a paid “motivational speaker,” she naturally tilted her speeches in complimenting terms to her hosts. So during that process, she was a bit disingenuous, even hypocritical in comparison to whatever she’d say in a speech to voters. In other words, she was being a typical politician.
Ultimately, there is nothing earthshaking or criminal in these emails. If anyone can pinpoint something worthy of a “special prosecutor,” please show it. Please explain why a Trump should theoretically put her in prison.
Here’s the rest of the email content in the latest batch from Wikileaks that AP will NOT report on:
1. Mrs. Clinton had cozy and improper relationship with the mainstream media.
CNN contributor and then adviser of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile gave the Clinton campaign advanced notice of a CNN town hall question that she thought may give Mrs. Clinton pause. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign lauded a New York Times reporter for “teeing up” stories for them, and ABC’s George Stephanopoulos for hammering home their talking points. The Boston Globe helped Mrs. Clinton’s team maximize her presence in New England during the primaries and CNBC’s John Harwood bragged to them about dogging Donald Trump during a Republican primary debate he moderated.
2. The State Department paid special attention to “Friends of Bill.”
After the massive 2010 Haiti earthquake, a senior aide to then-Secretary of State Clinton repeatedly gave special attention to those identified by the abbreviations “FOB” (Friends of Bill) or “WJC VIPs” (William Jefferson Clinton VIPs), referring to the former president. The emails show Mrs. Clinton’s State Department prioritized and benefited Mr. Clinton’s friends in the $10 billion recovery effort. The State Department also polled the popularity of Mr. Clinton in Haiti and shared the results with him.
3. Mrs. Clinton argued for “a hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders.”
Mrs. Clinton’s dream for America looks a lot like the European Union. She reportedly told investors in a paid speech to Brazilian Banco Itau in 2013: “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, sometime in the future with energy that’s as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.” Without borders, there are no countries, including the United States.
4. The Clinton campaign was in touch with Department of Justice officials regarding the release of her emails.
Brian Fallon, Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman and former Justice Department staffer, appeared to have discussions with sources inside the DOJ about ongoing open records lawsuits requesting access to her emails while serving as secretary of state. In an email from May 2015, Mr. Fallon said that “DOJ folks” had “informed” him about the upcoming status conference in one of the lawsuits.
5. The Clinton camp was tipped off to the release of the Benghazi emails.
In April 2015, Clinton campaign Deputy Communications Director Kristina Schake referred to a “tip” from a source regarding when the State Department planned to release Mrs. Clinton’s Benghazi emails. Mrs. Clinton’s lawyer Heather Samuelson followed up on the tip, writing: “Latest: Still aiming for Friday, but potential it gets delayed until early next week because still moving through interagency review process. Will check back tomorrow and keep you posted. Quick update on this — DOS says the release of the 300 will likely happen on Thurs or Friday. Will keep you posted as I hear anything further on my end. Thx.”
6. Mrs. Clinton admitted sometimes her public and private positions differ.
In a 2013 speech before the National Multi-Housing Council, Mrs. Clinton indicated her public positions may differ with her private positions, because politics is an ugly business.
“Politics is like sausage being made,” Mrs. Clinton said. “It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the backroom discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.”
7. Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman mocked Catholics and evangelicals as “severely backwards.”
Hacked emails show Mrs. Clinton’s campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri and other Clinton allies openly talking about Catholics being “severely backwards” and charging that they don’t know “what the hell they’re talking about.” The April 2011 discussion between Ms. Palmieri and John Halpin, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress, mocks media mogul Rupert Murdoch for raising his children in the Catholic Church and said that most “powerful elements” in the conservative movement are all Catholic.
8. Mrs. Clinton admitted she has a hard time relating to the struggles of the middle class.
In a 2014 speech for Goldman Sachs and BlackRock, Mrs. Clinton admitted her riches and public persona lifestyle isolated her from the financial struggles of most of the country, saying her memories of her childhood is how she connects now to everyday Americans.
“Obviously, I’m kind of far removed because the life I’ve lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy,” Mrs. Clinton said of relating to the middle class.
9. Mrs. Clinton campaign used Benghazi as a distraction from the email scandal.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign tried to make her email scandal disappear during the Benghazi probe by trying to conflate and confuse the two separate incidents. Mr. Podesta told aides in March 2015 to steer the media’s attention from the email scandal to the House Benghazi investigation, which they felt had already been painted in the media as a Republican witch hunt.
10. The Clinton team strategized on how to delay releasing emails, knowing it was against the law.
After receiving a subpoena for her emails, Clinton insider Phillipe Reines in March 2015 discussed strategies to use as an excuse not to release all of her emails. It appeared to constitute a conscious effort of the Clinton camp to frustrate and delay a congressional subpoena. Mr. Reines said of the emails: “Not flippantly, and maybe just from Nick’s [Merrill, Clinton spokesman] mouth — but rather than going around on how to release the 55k let’s just be for what’s happening and use this as an excuse. Because we can say even if State has equities, not providing them would put her in legal jeopardy OR we can say happy for them to have it, happy for them to have them as soon as State is comfortable.”
Latest on email dump : Clinton campaign manager, John Podesta, was disappointed that the San Bernadino shooter was a Muslim, he had hoped it was a white guy. Can you believe it? I do not want these type of people in power. Clinton and her henchmen are dangerous. If Pidesta had said he hoped it was a black man this would be all over the news. Anyone white would be voting against their ownsrlf by voting fir Clinton. Trump for President, at least we know where he stands.
I’m reading you loud and clear there girly.