National polling data shows the FBI’s public reputation has been tarnished by attacks on the bureau, its leaders, and top Justice Department officials by President Trump, along with last week’s release of a House Intelligence Committee memo suggesting abuses by the agency in investigating alleged Trump campaign ties with Russia.
Half of likely U.S. voters now believe that it is somewhat to very likely that “senior federal law enforcement officials broke the law in an effort to prevent Trump from winning the presidency,” according to a Feb. 8 Rasmussen poll reported by Real Clear Politics.
The proportion of Republicans who believe the FBI is biased against Trump ranges from 64 percent in a YouGov poll to 49 percent in a Marist survey conducted Feb. 5 through 7.
“Two in three Republicans say the FBI is biased against Donald Trump. More than three in four Trump voters say that,” according to YouGov on Feb. 7. However, “Americans continue to say they want the FBI to be independent of presidential administrations.”
Most Democrats, 87 percent, believe the FBI is “just trying to do their job,” according to the Marist poll.
On whether law enforcement officers broke the law to stave off a Trump presidency, 32 percent think it is very likely, 40 percent think it’s not likely, and 25 percent feel it’s not at all likely, Rasmussen found.
