The excerpts were found in an email from Clinton campaign research director Tony Carrk to Tony Podesta, the campaign chairman whose emails were leaked by the transparency organization earlier on Friday. The emails detail comments that the presidential hopeful made to financial institutions Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and others.
In one of the excerpts, Clinton talks about her middle class beginnings and admits to being out of touch with the common American.
"My father loved to complain about big business and big government, but we had a solid middle class upbringing. We had good public schools. We had accessible health care. We had our little, you know, one-family house that, you, he saved up his money, didn’t believe in mortgages," she said, according to the email.
"So I lived that. And now, obviously, I’m kind of far removed because the life I’ve lived and the economic, you know, fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy, but I haven’t forgotten it."
Discussing financial regulation in a separate speech, Clinton suggested that insiders should be given a say in policy decision-making.
"There’s nothing magic about regulations, too much is bad, too little is bad. How do you get to the golden key, how do we figure out what works? And the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry."
Similarly, a 2013 exchange between Clinton and a Goldman Sachs executive shows the latter thanking Clinton for being supportive of Wall Street.
"By the way, we really did appreciate when you were the Senator from New York and your continued involvement in the issues…to be courageous in some respects to [be] associated with Wall Street and this environment. Thank you very much," said the executive, identified as Mr. O’Neill.
"Well, I don’t feel particularly courageous. I mean, if we’re going to be an effective, efficient economy, we need to have all parts of that engine running well, and that includes Wall Street and Main Street."
While Clinton claims to be against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, one excerpt shows her expressing support for a "hemispheric common market" with "open borders."
"My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere," she said.
In another telling exchange, the candidate spoke of the necessity for politicians to hold private positions and public positions.
"I mean, politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be. But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least," she said.
"So you need both a public and a private position."
Clinton has struggled to assure voters worried that her ties to Wall Street could be a conflict of interest if she becomes president.
Garnering roughly $225,000 per speech, Clinton has earned over $22 million in speaking fees since her time as Secretary of State.
