WikiLeaks Dumps Excerpts From Paid Speeches Hillary Clinton Sought to Bury

Excerpts of Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches to Wall Street institutions, divulged by WikiLeaks late on Friday, show why the Democratic presidential nominee was reluctant to have them publicized during her primary battle against populist rival Bernie Sanders.

In the lucrative speeches, for which she was paid some $225,00 a pop, Clinton signaled support for a plan that would lower corporate tax rates while raising the Social Security age; admitted she was out-of-touch with regular Americans; explained how politicians “need both a public and a private position;” and embraced a strong pro-trade position that could conflict with remarks she’s made on the campaign trail. 

The excerpts were contained in an email sent from Clinton research director Tony Carrk to campaign chairman John Podesta and other senior aides, with a note that “[t]here is a lot of policy positions that we should give an extra scrub with Policy.”

WikiLeaks said the cache came from Podesta’s email account. 

In one revealing excerpt, from a 2014 speech at a Goldman Sachs-Black Rock event, Clinton discussed being “kind of far removed” from the struggles of the middle class, saying:

She also lamented as “onerous and unnecessary” requirements that political candidates divest from certain assets and sell stocks before entering government, saying “there is such a bias against people who have led successful and/or complicated lives.”

On more than one occasion, she spoke of how bankers should take a leading role in shaping financial regulations, saying in 2013, “the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry.”

And on trade, Clinton told a Brazilian bank in 2013: “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders…We have to resist, protectionism, other kinds of barriers to market access and to trade.”

SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT