Dean: ‘Labor unions are super-PACs Democrats like’

Former Gov. Howard Dean (D-Vt.) said Friday that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) should not boast about his freedom from super-PACs given his ties with organized labor.

“I don’t hear anybody asking Bernie Sanders for transcripts of some speech he made for a labor union,” he told host Andrea Mitchell on “MSNBC Live.”

{mosads}“For Bernie to say he doesn’t have a super-PAC…labor unions are super-PACs. Labor unions are super-PACs Democrats like so we don’t go after labor unions.”

Dean then criticized Sanders for implying Clinton is in the pocket of Wall Street after giving paid speeches for major financial firms in the past.

“This is a double standard,” said Dean, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. “Why should Hillary Clinton have to put up with a double standard? I am tired of the attacks on her personal integrity.

“If Bernie Sanders wants to attack Hillary Clinton’s integrity, that’s up to him, Dean added. “[But] I think that’s a mistake.

Clinton and Sanders fiercely sparred over the latter’s former ties with Wall Street during Thursday night’s fifth Democratic presidential debate.

The former secretary of State pledged she would “look into” releasing transcripts of past remarks for Goldman Sachs during the contest. She nonetheless commanded that Sanders end the “artful smear” that she is “bought” by the financial sector.

The pair is currently locked in a heated battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton won the first victory last Monday night with success in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. Sanders, meanwhile, hopes to strike back with his own triumph in New Hampshire’s primary next Tuesday.

He leads the former first lady by about 18 points there, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.