VOTERS SAY HILL’S A CROOK
FBI boss didn’t do job: poll
Most voters think FBI Director James Comey got it wrong when he recommended the Justice Department not file criminal charges against Hillary Clinton.
A Rasmussen poll — taken online and by phone — on Tuesday night found 54 percent of voters said the feds should have sought a criminal indictment, while 37 percent agreed with the decision not to prosecute.
Comey held an unusual press conference Tuesday at FBI headquarters laying out evidence demonstrating Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” But he recommended against criminal prosecution, saying Clinton didn’t act intentionally and arguing that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”
Most voters disagreed. But there was one segment that supported Comey’s decision: Nearly two-thirds of Democrats said that Clinton didn’t deserve criminal prosecution for sending top-secret material through her private e-mail account. By contrast, 79 percent of Republicans thought Clinton should have been indicted.
Even a majority of independents — 63 percent — took issue with Comey’s conclusion that an indictment was out of bounds.
The poll also found that voters were cynical about the system, with 81 percent saying powerful people get preferential treatment when they break the law. Just 10 percent think they don’t.
Voters predicted months ago what the FBI would decide. In a poll taken in January, 64 percent of those surveyed said it was likely Clinton broke the law by using private e-mail while serving as secretary of state. But just 25 percent said they expected she would be charged with a felony.
If Clinton had been indicted, only 46 percent of all voters said it would have been possible for her to get a fair trial. Thirtythree percent said a fair trial wouldn’t have been possible, and 21 percent were unsure.
Sixty-two percent said they continue to have a high opinion of the FBI.
The poll — the first taken after Comey’s announcement — surveyed 1,000 likely voters and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.