When Donald Trump Backed Out On His Plans Of Calling an Investigation on Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump frequently demanded an investigation into Hillary Clinton's connections to the Democratic National Committee during his 2016 presidential campaign. He had harshly criticized the Clinton Foundation back then, saying “The amounts involved, the favors done, and the significant number of times it was done require an expedited investigation by a special prosecutor immediately, immediately, immediately.”

However, after his subsequent victory in the elections and assumption of the office of President of the United States, Trump recanted his former statements and asserted that it is urgently necessary to concentrate only on the country. "Look, I want to move forward, I don’t want to move back. And I don’t want to hurt the Clintons. I really don’t." He added, "She went through a lot. And suffered greatly in many different ways. And I am not looking to hurt them at all."

He further said, "The campaign was vicious. They say it was the most vicious primary and the most vicious campaign. I guess, added together, it was definitely the most vicious,” in an interview with The New York Times. "I’m not looking to hurt them. I think they’ve been through a lot. They’ve gone through a lot," Trump said. "I think we have to get the focus of the country into looking forward,” he added.

As per ABC News, Trump had previously stated that Clinton should be the subject of an inquiry, but during their 2016 debate, it was different since he said it to her face-to-face. “If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there have never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we’re going to have a special prosecutor,” Trump told Clinton while both were on stage in St. Louis. “We’re going to get a special prosecutor, and we’re going to look into it, because you know what? People have been — their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you’ve done. And it’s a disgrace. And honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” he had told the former secretary of state. 

The day after the debate in St. Louis, Trump focused on the same talking point, referring to the FBI's ongoing inquiry into her use of a server and emails while she was secretary of state. "We have to investigate Hillary Clinton and we have to investigate the investigation. This was a disgrace. This was a disgrace. Hillary bleached and deleted 33,000 e-mails after congressional subpoenas. Can you imagine that?” Trump had said. “They got a subpoena from the United States Congress and then they deleted everything. If you do that in your private life, you go to jail. And then destroyed her phones, some with a hammer, boom. Anybody destroyed your phones before with a hammer, anybody? No? Anybody? No? And people have gone to jail for doing far less.”

Trump honored his vow not to demand an investigation into the Clintons. However, he began to return to it in May when he made assumptions about a probe into the Democratic National Committee, which was linked to the Clinton campaign during the election. “When will the Fake Media ask about the Dems dealings with Russia & why the DNC wouldn't allow the FBI to check their server or investigate?” Trump had stated on X back on May 7th, 2017.

However, later Trump had refused to say whether he would remove Jeff Sessions if the Justice Department didn't act to look into Clinton and the Democrats when asked about it by ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl.

"I'm really not involved with the Justice Department. I'd like to let it run itself, but honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats. They should be looking at Podesta and all of that dishonesty. They should be looking at a lot of things. And a lot of people are disappointed in the Justice Department including me,” Trump concluded.