The 2016 Blast The latest POLITICO scoops and coverage of the 2016 elections. Email Sign Up

Tweets from https://twitter.com/politico/lists/team-politico



Hillary Clinton has so far declined to disclose the transcripts, saying that she would do so if and only if other candidates did the same. | AP Photo NYT to Clinton: Show voters your transcripts

The New York Times' editorial board is comparing Hillary Clinton's reluctance to disclose the transcripts from her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other groups to the antics of a "mischievous child."

"'Everybody does it,' is an excuse expected from a mischievous child, not a presidential candidate," the editorial board wrote on Thursday. "But that is Hillary Clinton’s latest defense for making closed-door, richly-paid speeches to big banks, which many middle-class Americans still blame for their economic pain, and then refusing to release the transcripts."

Clinton has so far declined to disclose the transcripts, saying Tuesday and in the past that she would do so if and only if other candidates, including Republicans, did the same.

"Her conditioning her releases on what the Republicans might or might not do is mystifying," the board continued. "Republicans make no bones about their commitment to Wall Street deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Mrs. Clinton is laboring to convince struggling Americans that she will rein in big banks, despite taking their money."

Last Friday, Sanders campaign spokesman Michael Briggs responded that it was "easy" for the Vermont senator to do so, as he had not given any speeches to Wall Street firms. Clinton was compensated $675,000 for three separate speeches to Goldman Sachs; Sanders was paid less than $2,000 for his 2014 speeches, according to past Times reporting.

"Public interest in these speeches is legitimate, and it is the public — not the candidate — who decides how much disclosure is enough," the Times wrote. "By stonewalling on these transcripts Mrs. Clinton plays into the hands of those who say she’s not trustworthy and makes her own rules. Most important, she is damaging her credibility among Democrats who are begging her to show them that she’d run an accountable and transparent White House."

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.