Donald Trump won't appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump will not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway announced on Tuesday, reneging on one of his signature campaign promises.

Conway said Trump won't pursue charges against Clinton for her use of a private email server as secretary of state, nor her potential conflicts of interest with the Clinton Foundation, because he wants to "help her heal."

"I think when the president-elect, who's also the head of your party, tells you before he's even inaugurated that he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message," Conway said in an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

Conway added that Trump is concerned with more pressing issues during the transition process.

"Look, 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 are not among them," Conway said.

Appointing a special prosecutor to investigate and "jail" Clinton was one of Trump's signature campaign pledges — one that excited his fervent base and led to chants of "lock her up" at his campaign rallies.

But since winning the presidency, he hinted that he no longer wanted to prosecute his former foe.

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, Trump praised Clinton for being "strong" and suggested he wasn't focused on prosecuting her.

Trump's announcement that he won't seek charges not only has critics once again up in arms, but also his supporters.

His critics are saying that Trump thinks he has power as president to decide what cases to prosecute and which to leave alone — a dangerous view of how the justice system works.

At the same time, those who supported Trump throughout the race — including the ultra-conservative Breitbart News — say Trump is breaking a promise.

"I think the president-elect had a tough choice there, you could go either way," Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump surrogate and proponent of locking Clinton up, told the Trump press pool gathered at Trump tower in New York. "If he made the choice to unite the nation, I think, all those people who didn't vote against him, maybe, could take another look at him."