Bernie Sanders: Hillary Clinton Owes Me an Apology Over 'Lies' Claim
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/bernie-sanders-hillary-clinton-owes-me-apology-over-lies-claim-n549541
Senator Bernie Sanders said that his Democratic presidential primary opponent former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton owed him and his campaign an apology Friday evening over an ongoing spat about donations from the fossil fuel industry.
"Secretary Clinton, you owe us an apology. We were telling the truth," Sanders in response to accusations from Clinton's campaign that he and his campaign had been "lying" and misconstruing Clinton's relationship with the oil and gas industry.
"The truth is that Secretary Clinton has relied heavily on funds from lobbyists working for the oil, gas, and coal industry," Sanders said in front of a crowd of about 2,200 people in Sheboygan South High School.
Sanders argued that Clinton's campaign and Super PAC has received "more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry" and said "57 oil, gas, and coal industry lobbyists have directly contributed to her campaign" citing an analysis done by the environmental organization Greenpeace.
The Clinton team quickly responded, saying they would not apologize. Clinton's campaign said Sanders was going out of his way to "deliberately mislead voters rather than debate the issues."
"We will not apologize for calling out these kinds of schemes for what they are: a desperate move from a campaign that has clearly decided that the only hope for a path to victory is through misleading attacks," Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement to NBC News.
Palmieri also said the Sanders campaign has received campaign contributions from "individuals who work for oil and gas companies."
The Sanders campaign is standing by the
Greenpeace analysis, which examines almost $1.5 million bundled for the campaign by lobbyists for the fossil fuel industry and over $3.2 million from "large donors" with fossil fuel interests for the Clinton backing Super PAC, Priorities USA.