President Donald Trump enjoys the steadfast support of most Republicans, but when it comes to an outside prosecutor investigating his alleged ties to Russia, even GOP voters believe that it is necessary. According to a new Politico/Morning Consult poll, 57 percent of American voters favor a special prosecutor to handle investigations involving Russia and the 2016 presidential campaign.
Since Trump's electoral victory, Democrats have been consistent in their calls for a special prosecutor. In cases of government misconduct, the Department of Justice or Congress have appointed an attorney from outside the government to run an investigation. Only 31 percent of voters believe Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, would be capable of overseeing an impartial investigation.
Based on another question in the poll, there is good reason why Americans are distrustful of Sessions. A plurality of voters indicated that they did not think Sessions was truthful during his confirmation hearing when talking about meetings with officials from the Russian government. 38 percent of voters thought Sessions was being deceptive, while 29 percent thought he answered truthfully. Another 32 percent said that did not know or did not have an opinion.
The poll was conducted last Thursday through the weekend, after Sessions announced that he would recuse himself from any investigation into the Trump campaign. At a press conference on Thursday, Sessions admitted that he met with the Russian ambassador to the United States during Trumps' bid for the presidency.
Trump was livid when he learned that Sessions was going to recuse himself from these investigation, The Washington Post's Robert Costa reported.
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