Hillary Clinton is under fire for defending the millions of dollars she has collected from Wall Street and other monied interests, as critics charge that her rationalization of those contributions ignores the dangers of a pay-for-play political system and amounts to an acceptance—if not a “tacit embrace”—of the role of money in politics.

Since last week’s Democratic debate, Clinton has repeatedly accused rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of attempting to ‘smear’ her with insinuations that she’s been bought through political donations, speaking fees, and other payments.

“What the Sanders campaign is trying to do is link donations to my political campaign or really donations to anyone’s political campaign, with undue influence with changing people’s views and votes,” the former secretary of state told CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday, repeating statements made during Thursday’s debate. “I’ve never ever done that and I really do resent the implication or as I said the other night the insinuation.”

Kurt Walters, a campaign manager with the anti-corruption group Rootstrikers, told Huffington Post’s Zach Carter that he understands how this “might be an appealing defense,” given how this charge has resonated with voters and considering Sanders’ recent gains on the frontrunner.

“But just like the Citizens United line of thinking,” Walters adds, “it ignores all of the other ways that money influences politics beyond the explicit exchange of cash for a vote.” 

“Clinton, like our Supreme Court, ignores thousands of years of human experience in how money corrupts politics not just through quid pro quos, but also by shaping attitudes,” agreed Pulitzer Prize-winning economics writer David Cay Johnston.

Carter reports:

Like Clinton, the [sic] Citizens United relies on a narrow definition of corruption as straightforward bribery—a literal trade of money for votes. Previous Supreme Court decisions, like McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, had applied a broader standard than Citizens United—one in which money can exercise an “undue influence” over policymaking, even absent explicit quid pro quo deals. 

And while Democrats have long acknowledged that a check from a big donor might not result in a politician switching her position on an issue, they have argued that campaign contributions can buy a phone call or a meeting in which a donor can make his case—opportunities unavailable to mere voters.

As Carter notes, Clinton’s defense of those contributions directly contradicts the goals of the Democratic party to reform campaign finance laws, as well as the agenda laid out by Clinton herself, which includes everything from public financing for elections, enhanced corporate disclosure rules, to supporting an amendment to overturn Citizens United.

According to a Washington Post analysis of the most recent FEC filings, “Through the end of December, donors at hedge funds, banks, insurance companies and other financial services firms had given at least $21.4 million to support Clinton’s 2016 presidential run” amounting to $44.1 million collected by Clinton’s campaign and allied super PACS from the financial sector.

What’s more, a recent analysis found that Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, collected a total of $7.7 million for at least 39 speeches given to Wall Street banks.

“There’s never been a politician in history who said, ‘That money influences me,'” Sanders told CBS on Sunday, responding to the accusations. “I think, you know, the American people know better,” he added.