WASHINGTON — Democrats are fuming over presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s defense of the millions of dollars she made giving speeches to Wall Street. Her latest effort to push back against critics undermines years of Democratic claims about the influence of money in politics, invoking a central tenet of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.
In last week’s head-to-head debate with Bernie Sanders, Clinton accused the Vermont senator of deploying a “very artful smear” against her by bringing up the $675,000 she received for speaking at Goldman Sachs.
“I really don’t think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you,” Clinton said to Sanders. “If you got something to say, say it directly. But you will never find that I have ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation I’ve received.”