Majority of Americans see impeachment inquiry as fair: poll

A majority of U.S. voters see the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry into President Trump as fair and legitimate, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill on Friday. 

The poll found that 57 percent of voters believe the investigation has been handled properly so far. Another 47 percent said that the impeachment inquiry appears to be a partisan bid to oust the president.

{mosads}Meanwhile, 54 percent said that Trump’s actions — pressing Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter — meet the standard for impeachment.

The poll results come a day after the House voted 232-196 along party lines to endorse the fast-moving impeachment inquiry. Only two Democrats, Reps. Collin Peterson (Minn.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.), voted against the resolution that sets the stage for a more public phase of the inquiry.

Among American voters there’s broad support for a more public impeachment inquiry, according to the poll, with 81 percent of respondents saying that congressional hearings on Trump’s efforts with regard to Ukraine should be made public.

Almost as many, 79 percent, believe that lawyers for the president should have an opportunity to question witnesses and receive evidence as part of the inquiry, according to the poll.

However, there’s a significant partisan divide in perceptions of the impeachment inquiry; only 32 percent of Republicans surveyed said that the inquiry was fair and legitimate compared to 83 percent of Democrats who said the same.

Meanwhile, voters are also split on whether Trump should actually be impeached and removed from office. Forty-five percent said he should be while 40 percent said he should not be. Another 15 percent said he should be censured by Congress.

There is also little evidence that the impeachment inquiry is taking a toll on the president’s overall approval rating, with it remaining steady in October at 46 percent, according to the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll.

“Impeachment is a mixed bag with no one a clear winner,” Mark Penn, the co-director of the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, said. ” Impeach Trump has moved up while Trump’s job numbers on the economy and in fighting terrorism have increased, as well.

“It looks primarily like a political fight rather than an impeachment with broad support,” he added.

The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll surveyed 1,810 registered voters online from Oct. 29 to 31. The poll is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll. The Hill will be working with Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll throughout 2019.

Full poll results will be posted online later this week. The Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.