Poll: Most Americans Believe FBI Over President Donald Trump

A new Marist College poll finds that two in three voters agree they would believe the FBI over President Donald Trump.

The survey found that 66 percent of the 1,012 respondents polled agreed that in cases where the two sides come to disagree they are inclined to believe the word of federal agents. By comparison, just 24 percent of those polled indicated they would take Trump’s word.

In addition, more than half, or 53 percent of respondents, added they believe the probe of special counsel Robert Mueller into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election to be a fair investigation, as opposed to just 28 percent of respondents who feel it is unfair.

Pollsters found opinions differed widely based on party lines, with 77 percent of Democrats indicating all is fair, while 46 percent of Republicans disagreed with the nature of the probe.

Republican lawmakers and allies of the president have long sought to criticize federal agencies handling investigations of the situation, including charging that the FBI and Department of Justice have both displayed a pattern of unfair behavior toward Trump.

Trump recently denied the release of a Democratic memo countering a Republican one where House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes accused various agencies of misleading the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant that would allow them to secretly surveil Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser.

Soon after the Republican memo was made public, Trump charged that it “totally vindicates” him, but “the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on.”

With the Mueller team strongly indicating that it would like to interview Trump before wrapping their probe, 71 percent of respondents in a recent Monmouth University poll agreed Trump should have to answer questions.

Trump, meanwhile, has wavered back and forth in his position, at one point indicating that he would be “100 percent” open to such a process before more recently suggesting that he will leave the decision up to his team of attorneys.

In the Monmouth survey, pollsters found of the 806 people interviewed, roughly 85 percent of Democrats agreed Trump should be forced to answer questions under oath, while 51 percent of Republicans agreed. The survey also found more than two in five respondents, or 41 percent, concur a Trump decision to terminate Mueller would constitute obstruction.