A new poll finds broad support for special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into President Donald Trump and his campaign.
Almost 7 in 10 (69%) of respondents in the ABC News/Washington Post pollsaid they support the special counsel's probe into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sixty-four percent said they support looking into Trump's business dealings. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) said they back the special counsel investigating allegations that Trump paid hush money to women who alleged affairs with him.
The polling took place from April 8-11 -- meaning it took place largely in the aftermathof Monday's FBI raids of Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen's home, office and hotel room. FBI agents removed Cohen's computer, cell phone, business files and financial documents, and also sought communications related to the "Access Hollywood" tapethat captured Trump making lewd remarks about women, sources familiar with the matter have told CNN.
The poll results come amid mounting concerns about the future of the Mueller investigation. The President and his aides have discussed firing Mueller for months and believe they have the power to do so, according to a source. Trump is also considering ousting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, sources have told CNN, a move that could limit the special counsel probe.
The poll also finds that a majority (51%) think "the question of whether or not Trump has engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct" is an important issue; 46% don't feel it is important.
Asked about fired FBI Director James Comey, 48% of respondents said they find him to be more believable than Trump. A little more than a third (32%) said the President is the more believable of the pair.
Views of the former FBI director were about evenly split -- 30% had a favorable opinion; 32% had an unfavorable one. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents had no opinion about Comey. Nonetheless, nearly half (47%) disapprove of Trump's decision to fire Comey.
The poll was conducted prior to the release of excerpts fromComey's tell-all memoir.It was conducted with a group of 1,002 adults with a margin of error of +/-3.5 percentage points.
