(The Center Square) – Nearly half of U.S. voters say the new federal indictment of former President Donald Trump is politically motivated.
The Department of Justice made public Trump’s indictment last week, which included nearly 40 counts related to his alleged possession of classified documents from his time as president.
A new ABC/Ipsos poll found that 47% of those surveyed say the charges are “politically motivated” compared to 37% who do not. The rest are not sure.
“These views are mainly driven by Republicans, while Democrats want to see Trump charged and to suspend his campaign,” Ipsos said. “Interestingly, independents are split, with roughly half agreeing with all three sentiments.”
Trump, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination and the most likely challenger to President Joe Biden, has cried foul, making the same claim of political motivation. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
“Hard to believe that the leading candidate, by far, of the opposition party, got indicted,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is strictly Third World.”
The recently released federal indictment includes several allegations, including photos and documentation of what are allegedly classified documents potentially accessible to hundreds of people at Trump’s Florida estate. Trump also allegedly showed classified documents to someone and admitted he had not declassified them, according to the indictment.
Legal analysts immediately expressed that the charges are serious.
Trump has pushed back that his handling of classified documents is no different than that of Biden, who kept documents in his garage at home and in an office building, saying this is proof positive of the indictment’s political motivation.
Biden also faces mounting allegations and evidence that he and his family benefited from millions of dollars in payments made from Chinese and Ukrainian entities in what Republicans are calling a “bribery scheme.”
Last week, House Republicans said they obtained an FBI document showing Biden himself as well as his son Hunter were allegedly paid $5 million each by a Burisma executive to end a corruption probe.
Biden has repeatedly dismissed questions from the media about these allegations, saying last week they are “malarkey.”
The Department of Justice also recently announced that it would not prosecute former Vice President Mike Pence, who also allegedly had classified documents at his home.
Trump’s critics point out that Biden and Pence cooperated with authorities when asked to return the documents, unlike Trump. While all these details and prosecutorial discretion have likely fueled the concerns of those Americans sensing political motivation, Americans’ views are still largely split by their political affiliation.
The ABC/Ipsos poll, which surveyed 910 adults from June 9-10, still found that a plurality believe Trump should be charged.
“More believe that the former president should be charged in this case (48%) and suspend his campaign (46%) than believe he should not (35%, 38%, respectively),” Ipsos said. “Overall, roughly half believe Trump should be charged, and should suspend his campaign (48% and 46%, respectively).”
