Fox News Poll: Voters want congressional investigations into Russia

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Did intel collection on Russian targets ensnare Americans?

Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington

Majorities of voters think Congress should investigate if Russia interfered with the election and allegations of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

That’s according to the latest Fox News Poll, taken amidst a new volley of allegations of ties between Trump and Russia, and wiretapping of Trump Tower.

Sixty-six percent want a Congressional investigation into Russia’s attempts to influence the election, and 63 percent want lawmakers to look into possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Voters are split 46-49 percent over whether lawmakers should investigate the wiretapping allegation.

In a March 4 tweet, President Trump said former President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower.

READ THE FULL FOX NEWS POLL RESULTS.

The House intelligence committee asked the Justice Department to provide evidence to substantiate the claim by March 13.  Monday the Justice Department asked for more time to respond to the request and the committee set the new deadline for March 20.

Views are clear on whether the president should produce evidence of his claim about the wiretaps:  76 percent think he should.  That isn’t just Democrats, although most agree (88 percent).  Republicans (63 percent) and independents (70 percent) also think he should show proof.

About 9 in 10 Democrats want investigations into Russia’s attempts to influence the election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, yet a 59 percent majority opposes looking into Trump’s claim about Obama wiretapping him.

It’s the reverse among Republicans, as roughly 6 in 10 opposes looking into Russian meddling and campaign collusion, yet a 58 percent majority wants Congress to investigate the wiretapping claim.

More independents (60 percent) want investigations into possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign than want Congress to look into Obama over Trump’s wiretapping claim (41 percent).

Of the issues tested, President Trump receives his worst job ratings on his handling of America’s relationship with Russia:  33 percent approve vs. 55 percent disapprove.  One in ten has no opinion (12 percent).

Republicans (65 percent) are more than 10 times as likely as Democrats (6 percent) to approve of the job Trump is doing on Russia.  Even so, 16 percent of Republicans disapprove, and another 18 percent has no opinion.

The president’s overall job approval rating stands at 43 percent, down from 48 percent a month ago.  Fifty-one percent of voters disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president.

A record 73 percent of voters have confidence in the CIA, up from 67 percent in December.

In addition, 59 percent are confident U.S. intelligence agencies are acting in a “non-partisan” manner.  More than a third lacks confidence (37 percent).

Voters split over whether intelligence agencies are respecting the privacy of American citizens:  50 percent are confident their privacy is being respected, while 47 percent are not.

Democrats have confidence they aren’t being spied on (58 percent) and the intel community is non-partisan (70 percent).

Republicans split on both privacy (48 confident vs. 51 not confident) and whether the agencies are being non-partisan (44 confident vs. 48 not confident).

WikiLeaks

The poll also asks voters about the government surveillance programs that were recently made public by WikiLeaks.

Voters are concerned about the WikiLeaks info on both the national and personal level. About three-quarters (74 percent) are worried that U.S. intelligence has been compromised.  Almost as many (70 percent) are concerned about the technology WikiLeaks revealed the agencies developed to collect private info.  And in an increasingly rare example of agreement, majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents express concern about both issues.

Thirty-one percent of voters have a favorable opinion of WikiLeaks, while 46 percent have an unfavorable view.  Some are unable to rate the group (11 percent) and 12 percent say they’ve never heard of it.

Independents (43 percent favorable) and Republicans (39 percent) are more likely than Democrats (21 percent) to have a favorable view of WikiLeaks.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,008 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 12-14, 2017.  The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.