A majority of Americans believe US President Donald Trump has tried to interfere in the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s US presidential election, according to a new poll.
About 60 percent of Americans think Trump attempted to obstruct or impede the investigation, the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found.
The survey also shows that 68 percent of Americans are concerned that Trump or his campaign associates had inappropriate links to Russia.
Just 22 percent of Americans support Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, compared with the more than half of Americans who disapprove of the president's decision.
Robert Mueller, who preceded Comey as FBI director, was appointed on May 17 by the Justice Department as special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation after Trump fired Comey.
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The Washington Post reported Thursday that Mueller is widening his investigation to examine whether the president attempted to obstruct justice by seeking to alter the direction of the FBI’s investigation.
Americans are mixed on whether Mueller can lead a fair and impartial investigation. Twenty-six percent are very or extremely confident it can be. Thirty-six percent are moderately confident and an equal share of Americans aren’t very confident or are not at all so.
The US intelligence community says that Russia played a role in the US presidential election held last November.
Since he started running for president, Trump supported improving relations with Moscow and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.