Half of Americans in poll favor Trump prosecution over documents

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump should be prosecuted over his handling of classified documents after his departure from the White House, according to half of Americans, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.

As details are released about the FBI’s recovery of material from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the poll found 50% of those surveyed say Trump should face criminal charges, while 41% do not.

Among Republicans, fewer than 10% say Trump should be charged. But 85% of Democrats and 52% of independent voters say he should, according to the survey of 1,584 U.S. adults conducted between Aug. 25 and Aug. 29. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus-2.5 percentage points.

The survey was conducted before the Justice Department’s latest assertions in court filings that there was evidence of attempts to conceal the White House records held in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago before the June FBI search.

“Americans have been watching closely and have their own verdict: Former President Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified documents was very serious, very wrong, and half of Americans believe it was a criminal act,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.

More than three-quarters of those surveyed, or 76%, said they were following the news about the removal of the classified documents from Trump’s home, with 38% saying very closely and 38% saying somewhat closely.

The poll more broadly found 56% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 34% have a favorable opinion of him. This compares to July when 55% had an unfavorable opinion of the former president and 37% had a favorable opinion.