A new poll shows that 53 percent of American voters believe that President Trump has tried to “derail or obstruct” special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential links between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Russian government.
In the Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday night, 50 percent of respondents said they believed that the Russia investigation was legitimate, compared to 42 percent who said it was a “political witch hunt” — an argument made by Trump, his associates and members of the GOP. Among independent voters, the number who said the probe was legitimate was higher: 54 percent said it was; 39 percent said it wasn’t. When asked if Trump had tried to “derail or obstruct” the Russia probe, 56 percent of independents said he had, and 37 percent said he hadn’t.
When asked whether Republicans in Congress were also trying to derail or obstruct Mueller’s investigation, numbers were more mixed: 46 percent of overall voters said they were; 42 percent said they weren’t.
In recent weeks, Trump and some Republicans in Congress have tried to cast suspicion on the investigation, claiming that the FBI harbors an anti-Trump bias. But voters aren’t buying it: 55 percent say the bureau is not biased against Trump, while 33 percent say it is. Overall, voters approve of the way the FBI is doing its job, 48 percent to 36 percent — that’s up two points since January.
And ultimately, 55 percent of respondents said they didn’t trust Trump to do what’s right. (But 57 percent said they didn’t trust the media to do what’s right either). Whom they do trust: 67 percent said they trust the courts, and 61 percent trust the intelligence agencies.
“Special Counsel Robert Mueller is not out to get President Donald Trump, American voters say, but they do feel the president is out to get Mueller,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “And almost half of voters think Republicans in Congress are trying to obstruct the Russian investigation. Despite the beating they’ve taken from the White House, the judiciary and the intelligence communities are considered a lot more trustworthy than the Oval Office and the Fourth Estate.”
