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Sanders fires back after Clinton says he's lying Nicole Gaudiano, USA TODAY 1:38 p.m. EDT April 1, 2016
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Bernie Sanders’ campaign is firing back at Hillary Clinton after she said she was “so sick” of them lying about her contributions from the fossil fuel industry.
Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, on Friday called Clinton’s statement “disappointing” and untrue, pointing to research from Greenpeace that shows she’s not just receiving money from “individuals” who happen to work in the oil, coal and gas industry, but from 57 industry lobbyists, including 11 who have bundled more than $1 million to help put her in the White House.
Counting money given to super PACs backing Clinton, the fossil fuel industry has donated more than $4.5 million in support of Clinton’s bid, he said in a statement.
“If the Clinton campaign wants to argue that industry lobbyists giving thousands of dollars to her campaign won’t affect her decisions if she’s elected, that’s fine,” he said. “But to call us liars for pointing out basic facts about the secretary’s fundraising is deeply cynical and very disappointing.”
The statement was the second released by the Sanders campaign on the issue after an angry outburst from Clinton Thursday when Greenpeace activist Eva Resnick-Day confronted her at a campaign event in New York. Resnick-Day thanked Clinton for tackling climate change and asked whether Clinton would reject future fossil fuel money in her campaign.
“I do not have — I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies,” she said, pointing her finger at Resnick-Day. “I am so sick — I am so sick — of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I’m sick of it.”
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement that the "Sanders campaign is misleading voters with their attacks." Clinton has a proven record on combating climate change and has repeatedly called for eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies, he wrote. The campaign hasn’t taken money from oil and gas industry PACs or corporations and the money in question is from individuals who work for the companies, he wrote.
“By the same metric, Bernie Sanders has taken more than $50,000 on this campaign from individuals working for oil and gas companies,” he said. “Assuming they don’t believe their own candidate is bought by the fossil fuel industry, they should stop the false attacks and do what they’ve claimed the campaign is about: debating the issues.”
The exchange follows Clinton’s chief strategist Joel Benenson expressing concern on Monday about Sanders’ negative tone. Benenson suggested that would stand in the way of Clinton debating Sanders in New York, as the Sanders' campaign has requested.
In campaign speeches, Sanders has repeatedly targeted Clinton's campaign or pro-Clinton super PACs for taking what he considers to be questionable contributions and he has called on her to release transcripts of paid speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other special interest groups before her presidential bid.
Sanders reacted to the Clinton accusation Monday morning on ABC's Good Morning America.
“I’m not crazy about people disrupting meetings,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is Secretary Clinton has taken significant sums of money from the fossil fuel industry. She raises her money with her super PAC, she gets a lot of money from Wall Street, from the drug companies, from the fossil fuel industry. On the other hand, we have received over 6 million individual campaign contribution averaging 27 dollars apiece.”
