Clinton mails show she avoided harsh criticism of banks

WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton generally avoided direct criticism of Wall Street as she examined the causes and responses to the financial meltdown during a series

WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton generally avoided direct criticism of Wall Street as she examined the causes and responses to the financial meltdown during a series of paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, according to transcripts disclosed by WikiLeaks.

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Three transcripts released on Saturday as part of the hack of her campaign chairman’s emails did not contain any new bombshells showing she was unduly influenced by contributions from the banking industry, as her primary rival Bernie Sanders had suggested. Still, her soft-handed approach in the speeches was likely to act as a reminder to liberals in the party of their concerns that the Democratic presidential nominee is too close to Wall Street to be an effective check on its excesses if elected.

In October 2013, she told bankers she had great relations and worked closely with Wall Street as New York’s senator, and said “the jury is still out” on whether the Dodd-Frank reforms introduced after the financial crisis were the right approach.