Poll: 82 percent think Trump should testify under oath to Mueller

A vast majority of Americans say President Trump should be interviewed under oath by special counsel Robert Mueller.

More than 70 percent say Trump should agree to an interview, and if he does, 82 percent say it should be under oath, according to a new Monmouth University poll.

Multiple reports over the past several weeks have indicated that it’s likely Mueller will interview Trump as part of the probe into Russian election meddling and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. As it’s a crime to lie to the FBI regardless of whether an oath was administered, Trump would not be expected to take an oath if he agrees to an interview with Mueller.

However, if he were to refuse the interview, the special counsel could potentially issue a subpoena for Trump to testify before a grand jury, in which case the president would be required to take an oath. 

According to the poll, of those who said that Trump should agree to an interview, 85 percent were Democrats, 74 percent were independents and 51 percent were Republicans.

A majority of respondents from both parties agreed that an interview with Mueller should be under oath, with 93 percent of Democrats, 85 percent of independents and 67 percent of Republicans agreeing.

{mosads}”Democrats and Republicans alike say the president should sit down with Mueller, although they probably have very different reasons for wanting Trump to do this,” Monmouth Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray said in a release.

Mueller has already interviewed a number of top Trump officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but has yet to sit down with the president.

Trump said earlier this month that he was “looking forward” to interviewing with Mueller, but that he would defer to his attorneys for the decision. He has repeatedly referred to the investigation as a “witch hunt” and a “hoax.” It was reported earlier this month that Trump tried to fire Mueller last June.

Trump’s lawyers are reportedly arguing that Mueller has not yet met the “bar” to interview Trump, saying that his team must prove that Trump is the only person who can provide them with the information they seek before interviewing him.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 28 to 30 and surveyed a random sample of 806 adults. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.