The majority of Americans do not believe President Trump and his campaign have been cleared from Russia collusion by the conclusion of the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation as told by a summary from the attorney general, according to a new poll.
Based on what they have heard or read, 56 percent said they believe the Trump campaign “have NOT been exonerated, but collusion could not be proven,” the results of a CNN survey released Wednesday show. Forty-three percent said Trump and his campaign have been exonerated, and 1 percent had no opinion.
Dividing up by party, 77 percent of Republicans said the president has been exonerated and 80 percent of Democrats said he has not. Among independents, 58 percent said Trump has been exonerated while 42 percent said no.
Within the respondent pool participating in the poll, 32 percent described themselves as Democrats, 26 percent described themselves as Republicans, and 42 percent described themselves as not affiliated with either party, independent or otherwise.
A majority of Americans favor Congress to hold hearing and investigate the findings of the Mueller report, with 57 percent in favor of it. The other 43 percent said any investigation on the matter should conclude immediately.
Attorney General William Barr sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees last weekend briefing them of the “principal conclusions” in Mueller’s Russia investigation.
The letter, which is four pages long, said Mueller found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Mueller also declined to determine whether Trump obstructed justice, and Barr said he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein concluded there was insufficient evidence to show the president committed a crime.
Trump has argued the letter from Barr shows he has been exonerated.
The poll, commissioned by CNN, was conducted SSRS, an independent research company. The firm interviewed 701 respondents from March 25 to 26. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.
