Budowsky: An open letter to Hillary Clinton

Dear Secretary Clinton:

Before — and during — the presidential debates, you should reverse course and move aggressively to offer the platinum standard for disclosure and transparency, to substantially rebuild the trust of the American people in our political system.

{mosads}First, regarding recent health-related news in the headlines, you should propose that a respected organization such as the American Medical Association name three leading medical experts, agreed to by both campaigns, to fully review all medical records of both leading presidential candidates and report their findings to the nation.

Second, you should unequivocally authorize any group to which you have made paid speeches to publicly release the transcripts of those speeches.

Third, you should guarantee that if you are elected president, the work of the Clinton Foundation, which is so outstanding and important it merits consideration for the Nobel Peace Prize, would be fully turned over to a respected philanthropic organization and that no member of your family or political or fundraising operative associated with your administration would be involved with the foundation.

Fourth, you should then call on Donald Trump to release his tax returns in full, which some suspect he is hiding to avoid disclosure of devastating information, and accept full disclosure of his medical records as you do.

I agree with Jill Abramson, former editor of The New York Times, who proposed in a recent op-ed in The Guardian that you adopt a radical new strategy of full disclosure. This would constitute a complete reversal of the inadequate disclosure that has plagued both campaigns and further poisoned the well of American public opinion.

It would be profoundly bad for America for the next president, whoever it is, to be as widely disliked and distrusted as you and Trump are today. You possess enormous qualifications and experience for the presidency, which is why I support you so strongly. You have conquered the barriers of sexism. Now you must conquer the barrier of distrust so many Americans have toward our political system.

Your previous medical disclosures have been significant but not complete. Trump has made zero disclosure and instead released an amateurish puff piece worthy of a fan club member, not a medical professional. Voters deserve to see the full — not partial—medical records of both candidates, or at least they should be made available to nationally respected physicians possessing all information necessary to offer an objective and thorough medical opinion.

Today, the issue hurts you politically, but this will dramatically change as attention turns to the need for complete disclosure from both candidates. Pundits are grossly unqualified to offer medical opinions. Voters deserve much better than political spin from uninformed voices that lack the expertise to offer an informed medical opinion about the health-related fitness of candidates to be commander in chief.

Regarding disclosure of your paid speech transcripts, I know what was said in some of the speeches from confidential sources. You would reap enormous political goodwill by standing for the platinum-grade openness that voters hunger for.

As to the Clinton Foundation, it has done hugely valuable work that deserves far more media coverage and public credit than it has received. It provides tremendous and almost certainly life-saving benefit to poor people and children around the world. You, Bill and Chelsea Clinton all deserve standing ovations for the pathbreaking good works the foundation has done, which must continue. However, to avoid any hint of any appearance of potential conflict, and to make you the undoubted champion of integrity and disclosure, you should propose an iron wall separating every aspect of the foundation from your presidency.

With the presidency on the line, with the campaign reaching a crescendo, with the outcome currently in doubt, you should become the nation’s leading champion of disclosure and transparency in American public life. If you do, the eyes of the nation would then turn to Trump. Today’s headlines would be soon forgotten and your political stock would soar.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Contributors blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.