Araweelo News Network
Joe Lauria, an author and investigative journalist based in New York, told Press TV on Wednesday that Trump did not want to inflict any additional embarrassment upon Hillary and Bill Clinton. the former President of the United States.
In an apparent contrast with the incendiary rhetoric he used throughout his presidential campaign, Trump said Tuesday that he would not prosecute Hillary Clinton over her email case, arguing that the former secretary of state has already “suffered greatly.”
When asked if he has ruled out prosecuting Clinton, the president-elect said, “It’s just not something that I feel strongly about.”
During one of the presidential debates, Trump had told Clinton that “you’d be in jail” if he was president.
However, Lauria said the decision was the right one because a prosecution would require great resources and would only cause distraction.
“It would cost a lot of money, it would be a distraction,” Lauria argued. “I think the Clintons have suffered enormously by this defeat that brought down the Democratic Party. It was a total humiliation for her.”
Clinton sent more than 30,000 emails to the US State Department during her tenure as secretary, some of which were then published in batches in line with a court order. She also deleted thousands of her emails before turning over the server.
Before their ultimate face-off on November 8, Trump had accused Clinton of violating federal laws for using a private email server and using her political links to get away with her crimes.
Trump repeatedly reminded the American public that other US officials had faced severe punishments for mishandling secrets in a much smaller scale than Hillary Clinton and yet she was never held responsible.
The Republican president-elect even criticized the FBI for clearing Clinton of all charges twice.
Trump’s backpedaling has angered many of his supporters, who thought he would deliver on his pledges, this one in particular.