Washington (dpa) – US president-elect Donald Trump told the New York Times on Tuesday that he doesn’t “want to hurt the Clintons” after an aide said he would not pursue charges against his former rival Hillary Clinton.
“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t,” Trump said in an interview with a group of reporters and editors from the paper. “She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways.”
However, reporters in the room also tweeted that Trump had said he had not taken an investigation off the table, but simply did not “feel very strongly about” it.
A Donald Trump supporter wearing a mask of the candidate poses with his hand around the throat of a fellow supporter dressed as Hillary Clinton wearing a prison jumpsuit at a Republican Party gathering in Lima, Ohio. Photo: Seth Herald via ZUMA Wire
The apparent decision not to go after Clinton for her use of a private email server as secretary of state ran contrary to rhetoric Trump had often repeated during the final weeks of his presidential campaign and pledges to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her.
Right-wing website Breitbart.com, where top Trump aide Stephen Bannon had served as editor, characterized the move as a “broken promise.”
Kellyanne Conway, who managed Trump’s presidential campaign, told broadcaster MSNBC that the decision would send a “very strong message” about bringing the country together in the wake of a contentious election.
“I think Hillary Clinton still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans don’t find her to be honest or trustworthy. But if Donald Trump can help her heal then, perhaps, that’s a good thing,” Conway said.
Trump had charged during the campaign that Clinton had broken the law despite a decision by the FBI not to press charges. His supporters had routinely chanted “Lock her up” at campaign rallies.
“I think he’s thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the United States and things that sound like the campaign aren’t among them,” Conway said.
The White House stressed that future presidents should abide by the tradition of preventing political influence in judicial inquiries.
However spokesman Josh Earnest stressed that it was not up to the next White House to decide whether a prosecution should move forward because it had already been decided.
The FBI conducted an investigation of Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state to determine whether classified information had been compromised.
In July, FBI Director James Comey concluded that she had not broken any laws and Justice Department officials declined to pursue charges.
Just days before the November 8 presidential elections, additional emails came to light on another computer, flaming calls against Clinton by Trump and other Republicans. Comey however concluded the emails contained no new information and did not change his earlier assessment.
However the questions damaged Clinton in the closing days of the presidential campaign.
