In a potential sign that clemency for Chelsea Manning — but not Edward Snowden — is coming soon, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest insisted a “stark difference” exists between the petitions from the two even though the crimes they allegedly committed are similar.

Under questioning from ABC News, Earnest said the “stark difference” is based on Manning accepting justice and Snowden fleeing to Russia after they both leaked sensitive information from the U.S. government.

“Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes — and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” Earnest said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy. So, I think the situation of these two individuals is quite different.”

Earnest said he can’t speculate on the impact that distinction will have on clemency decisions, but emphasized the difference in the two cases.

“I know there’s a temptation because the crimes were relatively similar to lump the two cases, but there some important differences, including the scale of the crimes that were committed and the consequences of their crimes,” Earnest said. “Obviously, as Chelsea Manning has acknowledged, and as we have said many times, that the release of the information that she provided to Wikileaks was damaging to national security, but the disclosures by Edward Snowden were far more serious and far more dangerous.”

Earlier this week, NBC News reported Manning was on Obama’s short list of candidates for clemency before the end of his administration. The White House and the Justice Department haven’t responded to the Washington Blade’s request to verify that report.

Earnest said the Justice Department administers a process for clemency in which factors about each case individually are evaluated based on the merits, then provides a recommendation to the president.

“I think you would expect the president would very carefully consider the recommendation that’s made by the Department of Justice before making a final decision,” Earnest concluded.

A number of LGBT groups — led by the American Civil Liberties Union — have joined the calls for clemency for Manning, who came out as transgender shortly after her conviction under the Espionage Act of leaking classified material to Wikileaks.

Currently in the middle of her seventh year of 35-year-sentence at a men’s prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Manning is confirmed to have attempted suicide at least twice, once in July and again as she was sentenced to solitary confinement in November for that initial attempt.

The Army initially refused to provide her with hormone therapy, but agreed to provide the treatment last year as a result of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The Army also initially refused to grant her gender reassignment surgery, but reversed its decision in September after she underwent a hunger strike.

On Thursday, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange signaled he agree to extradition to the United States if Obama grants clemency to Manning. Assange has been in self-imposed exile at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault charges. He also could face espionage charges in the United States for his release of U.S. government information.