President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that he's not personally under investigation and that his campaign didn't collude with Russia. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images Poll: Almost half of Americans think Trump committed a crime related to Russian meddling

Nearly half the respondents in an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday afternoon believe President Donald Trump committed a crime during his run for the presidency.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, who in May took over an FBI probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, announced indictments this week against former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, on charges including money laundering and making false statements. Both pleaded not guilty in federal court on Monday.


Another document unsealed Monday revealed that former campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos had pleaded guilty in October to lying to the FBI about outreach to Russia-related officials.

Forty-nine percent of those surveyed said they believe the president committed a crime related to Russia’s attempts to influence the election — 19 percent said they think there is solid evidence of it, while 30 percent said it’s only their suspicion. Forty-four percent said it’s unlikely that Trump committed a crime.

The president has repeatedly claimed that he’s not personally under investigation and that his campaign didn’t collude with Russia. He has also dismissed the probe as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt.” But the White House has said the president won’t try to defund Mueller’s probe, as former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has suggested.

Nearly 6-in-10, 58 percent, said they approve of the way Mueller is handling the investigation, while 28 percent said they disapprove. A little more than half, 51 percent, said they don’t think the president is cooperating with the probe, though 37 percent said they do think Trump is cooperating.

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Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they approve of the charges filed against Manafort.

Only 16 percent said they disapproved.

And 28 percent said they think the legal cases of Manafort, his deputy Rick Gates and Papadopoulos will be limited to just themselves, while 53 percent said they think the cases represent broader wrongdoing within the Trump campaign.

The survey of 714 adults was conducted Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 via landlines and cellphones. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.