Top aide: Trump wants to move forward by not prosecuting Clinton

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision not to pursue charges against Hillary Clinton is a signal he wants to move the country forward, a top aide said Tuesday evening.

Trump said earlier in the day he doesn’t feel “very strongly” about prosecuting Clinton for her use of a private email server while secretary of State. 

“He just wants to unite the country and move forward, not backward,” Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager, explained during an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

“He is convinced there are many issues that need his immediate attention as our commander in chief and president of the United States.”

Conway added that Trump hasn’t thought about whether he would pardon Clinton. 

“That’s not a conversation we’ve had one way or the other. I just don’t know where his head is on that,” Conway said. 

But Conway wouldn’t say whether Trump would try to do anything about House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who has vowed to continue investigating Clinton. 

“He can’t control what other people do,” she said. 

Trump said Tuesday during a meeting with New York Times reporters that he doesn’t want to “hurt” the Clintons by prosecuting his former Democratic rival.

“I don’t want to hurt the Clintons, I really don’t. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways,” he said.

The move marked a major reversal for Trump, who vowed during the campaign to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton if he won.

Trump appeared to sound a different tone about jailing Clinton immediately after his win earlier this month, despite months of “lock her up” chants at his rallies.