Warren: Public Should Be Wary Of Corporate Influence In Washington
BOSTON (CBS) - It's become a YouTube sensation, Senator Elizabeth Warren's floor speech last month denouncing the influence of corporate financial-services giants over Congressional policy-making.
The speech was prompted by an 11th hour effort to loosen financial industry regulations authored by lobbyists for Citigroup, the investment colossus whose bad bets helped fuel the 2008 economic collapse.
And in an exclusive one-on-one interview today with WBZ News, we asked Warren if her indictment included former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a major beneficiary of Citigroup political donations over the years.
"I'm just calling out the problem we have right now in Washington, and Citigroup is an example of these big corporations who have undue influence right there in Washington," said Warren.
Asked if the public should be wary of Citigroup ties to Clinton and current Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who was chief operating officer of Citigroup in the years prior to the 2008 financial meltdown, Warren said: "The public should absolutely be wary of the influence of Citigroup and other large financial corporations and the power they wield in Washington."
These comments mirror the rhetoric of political activists who've been clamoring for Warren to challenge likely Democratic presidential candidate Clinton for the nomination in 2016. But Warren is sticking with her statement that she's not running, and says she's just repeating the critique that compelled her to enter politics in the first place.
"I ran for the Senate in order to fight back against that, to say we can't have a government that's just out there to work for Citibank and to make life better for those who are already rich and powerful," she said.
MORE POLITICAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON
