A majority of likely voters say FBI officials who promoted claims linking former President Donald Trump to Russia should be criminally prosecuted, according to a new Rasmussen poll.
The poll, released Friday, found that 59% of respondents say those inside the FBI who pushed the narrative that Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia colluded to sway that year’s presidential election should face criminal charges.
The poll surveyed 1,013 likely voters between May 21 and May 23, roughly a week after special counsel John Durham released a report outlining the FBI’s failures while pursuing the allegations against Mr. Trump. Mr. Durham did not recommend any new charges beyond his three earlier prosecutions.
High-profile FBI figures greenlighted the Trump investigation based on unverified intelligence and ignored evidence that countered the collusion narrative, according to Mr. Durham’s 300-page report.
The same poll also found that 63% of respondents said Mr. Trump was the target of a Hillary Clinton campaign-orchestrated “hit” during the 2016 race. Just 30% of respondents disagreed with that statement.
Some Republicans and Trump allies have complained that Mr. Durham’s sprawling, four-year investigation did not result in criminal charges against a slew of Obama administration officials and leaders, including former FBI Director James B. Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Mr. McCabe and Mr. Comey were both referred for criminal prosecution by the Justice Department inspector general. Federal prosecutors within the Justice Department declined to press charges.
Mr. Comey was referred for criminal prosecution for allegedly leaking classified materials to a friend, who passed on the documents to The New York Times. An inspector general’s investigation found that Mr. McCabe had lied to investigators about approving a leak to a media outlet.
Mr. Durham brought three prosecutions but netted only one conviction: a low-level FBI lawyer who admitted to doctoring evidence to obtain a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign figure Carter Page.
The other two cases involved alleged false statements to the FBI by a Hillary Clinton campaign attorney and a Russian analyst. Both were acquitted by juries in Washington and shed little new light on the bureau’s decision-making in 2016.
The lack of high-profile prosecutions has left activists and lawmakers frustrated.
“When government officials fail to abide by the boundaries set by the U.S. law and the Constitution, there must be accountability. Those who perpetrated this hoax to the American people must go to jail,” Rep. Daniel Webster, Florida Republican, said in a statement.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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