Americans find James Comey more believable than Trump, strongly back Mueller probe


The Republican National Committee is going all-out to try to discredit former FBI Director James Comey, whose new book, A Higher Loyalty, is already making waves. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday finds President Trump and his allies have their work cut out for them. By a 48 percent to 32 percent margin, Americans say Comey is more believable than Trump, and by a similar 47-33 percent margin, they disapprove of Trump's decision to fire Comey — even though Americans don't view Comey all that favorably (30 percent see him favorably, 32 percent unfavorably).
Americans are much less ambivalent about Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling and possible Trump campaign collusion. A hefty 69 percent of Americans support the Russia collusion part of the investigation, but 64 percent also back Mueller looking into Trump's business activities — Trump's unilateral "red line" — and 58 percent favor him investigating Trump's alleged hush money payments. Women were 5, 8, and 15 points more likely than men to support those aspects of the investigation, respectively.
ABC News' George Stephanopoulos interviewed Comey, and he offered a preview on Friday's Good Morning America. The excerpt underscored the stakes of the believability question for Trump. "I honestly never thought these words would come out of my mouth," Comey told Stephanopoulos, "but I don't know whether the current president of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013. It's possible, but I don't know."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The poll was conducted by Langer Research Associates between April 8-11 among a random sampling of 1,002 adults, and the results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 percentage points. You can find more results at ABC News.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imagination
Feature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?
Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacy
Feature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants