A new poll found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans believe Attorney General William Barr’s assertion this month that President Trump’s 2016 campaign was spied upon by Obama administration officials.
Roughly 38% of survey participants said they believe Trump and his campaign associates were subject to surveillance by Obama officials. By contrast, a mere 28% of respondents said they do not believe it, while nearly 35% said they do not know or have any opinion about the subject.
During testimony before a Senate panel last week, Barr said it was his obligation to ensure the government did not abuse its surveillance powers.
“I think spying did occur. But the question is whether it was predicated — adequately predicated,” Barr testified. “I’m not suggesting it wasn’t adequately predicated, but I need to explore that. I think it’s my obligation. Congress is usually very concerned about intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies staying in their proper lane.”
Barr has set up a team to investigate whether politically motivated surveillance on the Trump campaign took place.
The survey also stratifies respondents by political party, with 57% of Republicans saying they agree with Barr and only 24% of Democrats saying the same.
A redacted version of the full, roughly 400-page Mueller report is due out Thursday. The redactions will cover details on grand jury material, foreign intelligence that could compromise sources and methods, and derogatory information about people who were not charged.
The survey polled 1998 registered voters nationwide from April 12-14. The interviews were conducted online. The data has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
