Most voters believe Donald Trump broke the law as President, and about half support an FBI search of his Florida estate. That’s according to a Morning Consult poll published by POLITICO.
The poll, conducted on Aug. 10, gauged public opinion on the raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Predictably, voters’ opinions diverged widely based on political partisanship, with 84% of Democrats approving of the FBI search, and 72% of Republicans opposed.
But of note, 47% of independents sided with the FBI on the action, compared to just 33% who said they were opposed.
In total, 49% of voters said they strongly or somewhat approved of executing the search warrant on the Trump estate, and 37% said they strongly or somewhat disapproved. The remaining 13% said they did not know or have an opinion on the raid. Pollsters report a 2 percentage point margin of error.
About 41% said they considered the actions of the FBI an “abuse of power that should be investigated,” and another 6% believe it’s an abuse, but not one that rises to the level of a probe. About 40% of voters do not consider the search to be an abuse of power.
Notably, a far greater number of respondents believe Trump committed crimes in office than those who believe allegations deserve to be investigated.
About 58% of respondents believe the Mar-a-Lago resident broke the law while he served as President, with 42% saying “yes, definitely.” Just 31% believe he didn’t commit any crimes, and most of those who feel that way are Republicans.
Around 60% of Republicans say he likely didn’t break any laws, with 23% saying “probably not” and 37% saying “definitely not.” Less than 5% of Democrats believe Trump to be in the clear, while 74% believe he “definitely” broke the law.
When independent voters were asked their thoughts, about 59% think Trump is most likely a criminal. About 40% say he “definitely” committed a crime and 19% say he probably did. Just 12% say he “definitely” did not, and 13% said he “probably” didn’t.