Republicans on a hunt for Hillary Clinton's Goldman Sachs speech transcriptions

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton takes photos with campaign supporters during a campaign rally at the Hall of Fame Pavilion at Louisville Slugger Field in Louisville, Kentucky, US, May 10, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON - When Hillary Clinton delivered a $225,000-speech to Goldman Sachs executives in October of 2013, she sounded like a "Goldman Sachs managing director," recalled one person who watched the event in a recent interview with US daily Politico.

Together with other two paid speeches to Goldman Sachs after she resigned as US Secretary of State, Clinton earned a total of $675,000.

Now, Republicans determined to prevent Clinton from winning the White House in 2016 were scrambling nationwide to find any damaging material in those highly paid speeches.

According to US daily The Hill, GOP opposition researchers were currently launching an aggressive campaign to seek any information about the speeches, including from Goldman employees who were in the room.

As part of her contracts for the speeches, Clinton had required that all speeches not be taped in any form, said The Hill, adding that the transcriptions are kept solely in Clinton's possession.

Despite the hunt for the transcription, no concrete progress had been made so far, said The Hill.

More than a year into her presidency candidacy, Clinton, persistently dogged by controversy surrounding her use of a private email server and account, found herself trapped in another issue with the potential to derail her chance of winning the White House.

Over the past months, Clinton had been under relentless attack from Democratic contender Bernie Sanders, as the latter repeatedly blasted her for her tie to Wall Street, including paid speeches and campaign fundraising events.

She was now under tremendous pressure from the media and critics from both parties to release transcripts of her remarks to Goldman.

Clinton had refused to release those transcripts, arguing that she would release the transcripts only if all candidates, including Republicans, agree to release theirs.