Dem rep to Clinton: Release Wall Street speeches

Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) called on Hillary Clinton to publicly release transcripts of her paid speeches to Wall Street companies.

“Like I said before, if she doesn’t do these things, it allows people to ask questions,” he said Tuesday on Boston Herald Radio. “And it will never be enough.

“And that’s just the way it is,” Capuano added. “We have no choice. Once we’re in the public life, that’s what we have to do.”

{mosads}Capuano earlier in Tuesday’s interview said Clinton should also consider publishing a full list of Clinton Foundation donors.

“I think that if she doesn’t, she allows this kind of argument,” said Capuano, who supports the Democratic presidential nominee.

“One of the things you don’t do in politics is you don’t give an easy shot to your opponent if you can avoid it. That’s what this does. This simply allows people to want to defend Donald Trump to say, ‘Oh, what about you?’ ”

Capuano said he expects the same transparency from Trump concerning the billionaire’s tax returns.

“In the balance of things, I think your own personal tax return is a lot more relevant than a charity that you have secondary relationships with,” he said.

“In the world I have chosen, and that they have chosen, politics, transparency is real. I personally think some of it’s too much, but it is.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) repeatedly called on Clinton to release transcripts of her paid speeches to major financial corporations as the two competed for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year.

And Clinton’s GOP rival has frequently accused her of being too cozy with wealthy special interests during her tenure as secretary of State; Clinton, in turn, has raised concerns about what information might be revealed by Trump’s tax returns.

Capuano also had some words of advice for Clinton going into Sunday’s presidential debate:

“She has to be real careful about being too cocky,” Capuano said, “and I think there are too many supporters of hers who are too cocky about it — especially when you live in Massachusetts.”