Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Poll: 58% favor Mueller’s handling of Russia investigation
WASHINGTON — More than twice as many Americans approve as disapprove of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible coordination between Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and the Russian government, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds, indicating that the conservative effort to discredit the probe has fallen flat.
A 58 percent majority say they approve of Mueller’s handling of the investigation while 28 percent say they disapprove, the PostABC poll finds. People’s views depend in large part on their political leanings, but overall, Americans are generally inclined to trust Mueller and the case he has made so far.
Meanwhile, fewer than 4 in 10 Americans say they believe Trump is cooperating with Mueller’s investigation, while about half believe he is not. A similar 49 percent think it is likely Trump committed a crime in connection with possible Russian attempts to influence the election.
Mueller’s investigation entered a new phase last week as he revealed charges against three former Trump campaign officials: former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business partner Rick Gates, as well as foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.
The poll finds strong backing for the charges against Manafort and Gates — nearly 7 in 10 approve — and a general suspicion that more is to come.
Fifty-three percent say those charges and the plea by Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI represented broader wrongdoing by people involved in Trump’s campaign while 28 percent think they are limited to these instances.
The Post-ABC poll finds politics influences people’s responses, with 78 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents approving of the way Mueller is handling the investigation, compared with 38 percent of Republicans.
People on both sides of the aisle are more unified in supporting the particular charges against Gates and Manafort. Fifty-seven percent majority of Republicans say they approve of that case, as do 78 percent of Democrats.
The poll, conducted among 714 random adults Oct. 30-Nov. 1, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.