A recent poll shows a plurality of voters think President Donald Trump “tried to impede" the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, even though Robert Mueller didn't reach a decision on the question. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images POLITICO/Morning Consult Poll Poll: Nearly half still think Trump obstructed Russian probe

The special counsel’s report may have concluded there was no conspiracy or coordination between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign, but a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows the political fog around the president remains.

The poll shows a plurality of voters, 47 percent, think Trump “tried to impede or obstruct the investigation into whether his campaign had ties to Russia” — despite the fact that Special Counsel Robert Mueller didn't reach a decision on the question. Thirty-nine percent don’t think Trump tried to impede the investigation, and 14 percent don’t know or had no opinion about whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation.


Following the release of the report’s summary, the president is not riding a new wave of popularity. His approval rating in the poll remains underwater — 42 percent approve of the job he is doing, compared to 55 percent of voters who disapprove of the job he is doing — which is essentially unchanged over the past few weeks. And when asked whether Attorney General WIlliam Barr’s letter summarizing the report changed their opinions of Trump, voters fell predictably along partisan lines.

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“As the Mueller report conclusion reverberates broadly, our polling suggests that the release of the summary findings has had little impact on President Trump’s favorability,” said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s vice president. “Notably, 44 percent of voters — including 73 percent of Democrats and 42 percent of independents — have a less favorable impression of the president following Attorney General William Barr's summary of the Mueller report. This compares with 39 percent — including 79 percent of Republicans — who have a more favorable view."

The poll was conducted March 25-26, beginning the day after the public release of Barr’s letter, which said that Mueller did not find that Trump’s campaign coordinated with the Russian government to affect the election.

Barr also wrote that Mueller’s report laid out evidence on both sides of the question of whether Trump committed obstruction of justice — but he and Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, agreed that they would not bring charges against Trump.

Part of the report’s muted impact on voters may be due to the forces of partisanship — and confusion. Democratic voters, for instance, are split on the question of whether Mueller found evidence that Trump or his campaign conspired with Russia. (Barr’s letter says he didn’t.)

At the same time, a plurality of Republicans think Mueller found that Trump “did not obstruct the investigation.” (Barr’s letter says Mueller neither accused Trump of committing an obstruction crime nor exonerated him.)

Following the release of Barr’s summary, voters still want to see Mueller’s full report. More than four-in-five voters, 82 percent, believe Mueller’s report should be made public, compared to 18 percent who think it shouldn’t. (Respondents were not offered an undecided option on that question.)

But while voters are skeptical of Trump and his claims and want the full Mueller report released, there is also some appetite for moving past the investigations into the 2016 campaign. Just 39 percent — 65 percent of Democrats, 10 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of independents — say Congress should continue to investigate whether Trump’s campaign worked with Russia in the 2016 election. But more voters, 47 percent, say Congress should not continue to investigate the campaign, including 20 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of independents.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll surveyed 1,974 registered voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents — Toplines: https://politi.co/2UYp6ke | Crosstabs: https://politi.co/2HEJPXn