Top adviser to President-elect Trump, Kellyanne Conway said President Obama’s decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning was a pure political play, especially after Obama has spent months criticizing the leak of Democratic information to WikiLeaks.
Manning was convicted of leaking internal military documents to WikiLeaks and sentenced to 35 years in prison, but Obama commuted that sentence on Tuesday. Manning was sentenced to five times the usual length of time for his crimes, and critics of that sentence speculated it was to punish him for the leaks of Edward Snowden.
But, Conway said on Fox News, Obama seems to only be riled up about leaks when they hurt Democrats, not when they hurt the country.
“I do find it to be partisan politics at its worst,” she said. “The way that we treat somebody or the way we look at leaking depends on whose ox is being gored.”
Obama has been roundly criticized by Republicans for his decision to commute Manning’s sentence, and Democrats have been slammed for their support of Manning, even as they complain about the WikiLeaks release of information on Clinton’s campaign that was recovered through Russian hacking.
Conway said she wants Obama to answer why he thinks Manning should be released but the attacks on the Democratic National Committee deserve such concern.
“Why are you cherry-picking what leaks are important what leaks are not important, depending on the leaker and depending on what was in the leak?” she said.
Conway said Democrats are dividing the country right now with their rhetoric about Manning and their boycott of Trump’s inauguration. About 60 House Democrats are planning to not attend the inauguration, and Conway said they’re not helping the country come together.
“These are representatives and what does that mean? That means they’ve been elected to represent the people and be a conduit to the people,” she said.
