Most Americans Want Trump to Leave Mueller Alone

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A large majority of Americans believe that Special Counsel Robert Mueller must be allowed to finish his investigation, according to a CBS News poll.

Over 70 percent of poll respondents believe President Donald Trump should allow Mueller to do his job without interference, and over 50 percent said they want Congress to pass a law to protect the Mueller investigation.

Nearly three-fourths of Americans made very clear in their responses in the poll released today that they believe Trump should not take action to hinder Mueller’s investigation. The responses were fairly consistent through all party affiliations as 76 percent of independents, 81 percent of Democrats and 57 percent of Republicans want the investigation to continue without interference from the President.

There is a much bigger difference of opinion between the parties on the question of whether Congress needs to pass a law to protect Mueller. Barely half — just 52 percent — of respondents in total think such a law is necessary.

Just 23 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of independents believe we need legislation designed to protect the special counsel probe from being shut down by the White House. However, 75 percent of Democrats believe a bill to protect Mueller is needed.

Such a bill is currently being debated in the Senate, where Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake (R) has told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he will delay the president’s judicial nominees until the Mueller protection bill gets a vote on the floor of the Senate. Flake can delay judicial nominations since he is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A very small majority of Americans in total — 51 percent — believe that Mueller’s investigation is politically motivated.

This compares to 46 percent of poll respondents who said it is justified.

Today’s CBS poll comes after another poll from CNN last week which found that many more Americans approve of Mueller’s handling of the Russia probe than approve of Trump’s response to the Mueller investigation.

In the CNN poll, just 30 percent of Americans approved of the president’s conduct related to the Mueller probe, while fifty percent of respondents approved of Mueller’s work.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.