President Obama’s top spokesman put some distance between the White House and Hillary Clinton on Monday, by declining to offer an opinion on whether Clinton should release transcripts of speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other corporate interests.
The speeches occurred after Clinton left the Obama administration so the White House doesn’t have an opinion about it, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Monday.
“The speeches that she gave were speeches that she gave after she left the administration,” Earnest said during his daily press briefing. “That’s why I think I’m going to defer to Secretary Clinton and her team about whether those speeches are able to be released and whether they will be released.”
Clinton accepted $675,000 for three speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs, and millions more from other firms. She hasn’t been able to provide an explanation for accepting the money, other than to say that’s how much the firm offered her.
The Democratic front-runner is under pressure from primary contender Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has cast her as a member of the powerful political “establishment” and harshly criticized her ties to Wall Street.
During last week’s Democratic presidential debate, MSNBC moderators pressed her to release transcripts of the paid speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street executives.
Clinton wouldn’t commit to providing the transcripts, saying only that she would look into it.
“I don’t know what the status is, but I will certainly look into it,” she said.
