Nearly half of Democrats voters agree that a grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump from the Manhattan district attorney would be an “outrageous abuse of power,” a new survey found.
Earlier this month, a report claimed federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies were analyzing security assessments and making plans to prepare for the possibility that Trump could be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment he allegedly made to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg has been rumored to carry out the indictment against the former president, which a Rasmussen Reports survey conducted Monday found 46% believe prosecuting Trump would be an “outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump.”
Pollsters surveyed 964 likely voters between March 22-23 and 26, 2023, and showed a +/- 3 percent margin of sampling error with a 95% confidence level.
According to the survey, 77% of Republicans, 46% of Democrats, and 55% of unaffiliated voters at least somewhat agree that prosecuting Trump in Manhattan would be “an outrageous abuse of power.”
The poll also noted that 58% of Democrats, 15% of Republicans, and 29% of unaffiliated voters strongly approve of the Manhattan DA bringing criminal charges against Trump. However, at least 52% of Democrats, 14% of Republicans, and 31% of voters politically homeless voters say it is very likely that Trump committed crimes,
The survey also found 59% somewhat agree the prosecution would reflect an outrageous abuse of power, bringing criminal charges against Trump in the Stormy Daniels-related case. In comparison, 77% of Republicans and 55% of independents agree.
The arrest of a former president and current White House candidate would be unprecedented, especially given that the underlying charge is a six-year-old misdemeanor. Prosecutors are expected to charge Trump with a felony by arguing that the alleged crime was committed to hide an illegal campaign contribution, a charge some legal experts have characterized as tenuous.
The case involves an alleged payment that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen admits he made to Daniels during the presidential race to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 affair between Trump and Daniels. Cohen pleaded guilty to related charges and served time in prison.
Although non-disclosure agreements are legal, the potential problem for Trump centers around how his company reimbursed Cohen. The payment was listed as a legal expense, and the company cited a retainer agreement with Cohen. The retainer agreement did not exist, and the reimbursement was unrelated to any legal services from Cohen, thus setting up a potential misdemeanor criminal charge of falsifying business records. The report said that Trump personally signed several checks to Cohen while serving as president.
A five-year-old letter surfaced last week that appeared to show President Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen lied to investigators about a hush money payment made during the 2016 presidential election.
The letter, dated February 8, 2018, was written by Cohen’s attorney Stephen M. Ryan to the Federal Election Commission about the payment Cohen made to porn actress Stormy Daniels. In it, Cohen’s lawyer claims that Cohen used “his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford.”
“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly,” the letter said.
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Cohen pled guilty six months after that letter was written to several charges in federal court, including campaign finance violations related to the payment to Daniels.
The investigation by Bragg, a Democrat, is one of several Trump faces as he ramps up his third campaign for the White House. But the former president has placed most of his focus on the New York criminal inquiry in recent weeks amid reports of law enforcement making preparations for a possible indictment in that case.
Ryan Saavedra and Daniel Chaitan contributed to this report.