Robert Mueller may have denied exonerating President Trump during congressional testimony earlier this week, but most Republicans disagree, according to the result of a poll released Friday.
Fifty-eight percent of Republican voters surveyed after Mr. Mueller testified on Capitol Hill said that his investigation exonerated the president, pollsters announced afterward.
The former special counsel flatly denied having cleared the president when asked while appearing Wednesday before the House Judiciary Committee, however.
“Did you actually totally exonerate the president?” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, asked Mr. Mueller during the hearing.
“No,” Mr. Mueller responded.
The survey was conducted Thursday by Morning Consult for Politico and involved polling 1,992 registered voters, including 767 Republicans and 943 Democrats.
“Based on what you have seen, read or heard about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian interference,” pollsters asked, “do you agree or disagree that President Trump was exonerated by special counsel Robert Mueller?”
Considering all respondents, 35% agreed that Mr. Trump was exonerated, 41% disagreed and 25% said they were unsure.
Broken down by political affiliation, 19% of Democrats surveyed said that they believed Mr. Trump was exonerated, while a nearly identical proportion of Republican respondents — 18% — said that he was not.
Mr. Mueller, a former FBI director, was appointed special counsel by the Department of Justice in 2017 and tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and related matters. Twenty-two months later, his investigation concluded with the release of a 448-page report in April that Mr. Trump previously described as “a complete and total exoneration.”
Testifying later Wednesday before the House Intelligence Committee, Mr. Mueller said the Justice Department failed to ultimately concluded whether any of several incidents investigated by the special counsel’s office involving the president amounted to obstruction of justice
“We did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime,” said Mr. Mueller.
A total of 34 individuals were criminally charged as a result of the special counsel’s investigation, meanwhile, including several former members of Mr. Trump’s election campaign, among others.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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