After a week of especially heavy criticism, Hillary Clinton is defending the hefty price tags on her university speeches. (Via Getty Images)
In an interview with ABC Friday, Clinton said she has given every penny of the thousands of dollars she's earned giving paid speeches over the last year and a half to her family's charitable foundation.
"All of the fees have been donated to the Clinton Foundation for it to continue its life-changing and life-saving work. So it goes from a foundation at a university to another foundation."
Clinton makes an average of $200,000 for each paid speech she gives. (Via The White House)
And, according to recent reports, she raked in even more from some of the top universities in the country. (Via Georgetown University)
The backlash over Clinton's expensive speeches hit its peak last week when students at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas requested that the former secretary of state return the $225,000 the school paid her for a talk she's scheduled to give in October. (Via Newsy)
"You could give scholarships to thousands of students, benefit research on campus, give more students grants for research and studying. We think the students could really use this support from the $225,000." (Via Ralston Reports)
Clinton certainly isn't the first politician to face this kind of backlash over speaking fees.
Back in 2010, Sarah Palin found herself in some hot water after students and other critics demanded to know how much she would be paid for a speaking engagement at a campus of California State University. (Via YouTube / Conservative New Media)
And Clinton's own husband, former president Bill Clinton, came under fire last month after a new report from The Washington Post revealed he had raked in a staggering $104.9 million for 542 speeches between January 2001 and January 2013.
All this focus on the Clinton's finances largely began after a comment she made during a June interview with Diane Sawyer. (Via CBS, CNN, Fox News)
"We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt." (Via ABC)
When Clinton spoke with ABC Friday, she gave no indication she would return her fee for speaking at the University of Nevada, saying only that all her recent payments for speeches have gone toward The Clinton Foundation.
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