Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, who refused to endorse Hillary during a recent conversation with ABC News, is particularly concerned about the former secretary of state’s lack of “disclosure.”
During a roundtable discussion on ABC News’ This Week Sunday, Reich addressed Clinton’s waning favorability and honesty ratings, suggesting that she will need to have “more disclosure than any other candidate” in 2016 in order to prove to the public that she isn’t hiding anything regarding her State Department emails or her foundation’s foreign money sources.
According to a CNN/ORC poll released last week, the share of Americans who hold an unfavorable opinion of Hillary is at its highest point since 2001. At the same time, a strong majority of American voters do not describe Clinton as honest and trustworthy.
While Reich was quick to compliment Clinton on her recent statements regarding immigration, voting rights and criminal justice reform, he admitted that the former first lady nevertheless has a “vulnerability” regarding her lack of transparency.
“I do think that the issue of sort of disclosure — of full disclosure — is a key vulnerability,” explained Reich. “She has got to … just put everything out. More disclosure than any other candidate.”
The former Clinton cabinet member also called on Bill Clinton to put a stop to his paid speeches, which net him around $500,000 each. Clinton infamously claimed in an interview last month that he continues to accept money for his remarks in order to “pay [the] bills.”
While Reich said back in 2013 that he would support Hillary in a White House run, he has since changed his tune.
“I’ve known Hillary Clinton since she was 19, and have a great deal of confidence in her,” Reich told ABC News in advance of his This Week appearance. “At the same time, I agree with Bernie Sanders on much of what he says. But as chairman of Common Cause, a nonpartisan national citizen’s group dedicated to getting big money out of politics, I don’t feel free to endorse either one of them.”
In the same conversation, Reich also emphasized the need for Hillary to be “more open and transparent” about her private email system as well as the millions she and her husband have raked in for delivering paid speeches.
