More than twice as many Americans approve as disapprove of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’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 as the case has progressed toward its first public charges.
A 58 percent majority say they approve of Mueller’s handling of the investigation while 28 percent say they disapprove, the Post-ABC 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.
Mueller’s investigation entered a new phase this 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.
Manafort and Gates were charged with crimes unrelated to their campaign work. In a 12-count indictment, the special counsel alleged they engaged in a conspiracy to launder money and defraud the United States, stemming from their attempts to hide their work advising a Russia-friendly political party in Ukraine. A court hearing in their case was scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday.
Papadopoulos, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about the nature and timing of his conversations with foreigners claiming to have high-level Russian connections. His plea, which was unsealed Monday, describes how he had extensive talks to try to broker a meeting between campaign and Russian officials, and high-level members of the campaign seemed to entertain what he was doing — though some seemed to be wary.
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.
A narrow 53 percent majority 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.
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particular charges against Gates and Manafort. A 57 percent majority of Republicans say they approve of that case, as do 78 percent of Democrats.
Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty, and in a court filing Thursday, attorneys for Manafort asserted that the evidence against him had “been embellished.”
Partisanship also colors how people perceive the significance of Mueller’s charges, with more than three-quarters of Democrats saying they represent “broader wrongdoing” by people involved in the Trump campaign, compared with a small majority of independents.
Republicans are less united, with 46 percent saying wrongdoing is limited to Manafort, Gates and Papadopoulos and 30 percent suspect broader misconduct. Almost a quarter of Republicans say they have no opinion.
A larger 82 percent majority of Republicans say it is unlikely Trump himself committed a crime, though half of independents and 74 percent of Democrats say that is likely. Among the public overall, 19 percent think there is “solid evidence” Trump committed a crime, while 30 percent say that is merely their suspicion.
Among Democrats, a 30 percent minority believe there is solid evidence Trump committed a crime.
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Oct. 30-Nov. 1 among a random national sample of 714 adults reached on cell and landline phones with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Scott Clement contributed to this rep
