75% Of Americans Want Witnesses In Senate Impeachment Trial

Three out of four registered voters support calling witnesses during the Senate impeachment trial, according to a national poll conducted by Quinnipiac University last week.

Nearly all (95%) Democrats support calling for witness testimony, as do 75% of independents. Support from Republicans was 49%.

President Donald Trump was impeached by the House in December on two charges – abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The impeachment centered around his actions in Ukraine, where his associates launched a pressure campaign to convince the Ukrainian president to publicly announce an investigation into Trump’s political rival, Democratic nominee frontrunner Joe Biden.

The House investigation revealed Trump had tried to withhold U.S. aid to Ukraine as well as an Oval Office meeting with the foreign leader during the time of the pressure campaign. The aid was eventually released without any investigations being announced.

On the question of whether President Trump should be removed from office, voters remain divided, as 48 percent say the Senate should not remove President Trump from office, while 47 percent say the Senate should. That compares to a January 13 poll, conducted prior to the start of the Senate impeachment trial, in which 48 percent said the president should not be removed from office, while 46 percent said he should.

The poll found that over half of voters, 54 percent, believe Trump abused his power with his actions in Ukraine, while 42 percent say he did not.

Voters were similarly split on the second article of impeachment – obstruction of Congress — that charged Trump with illegally blocking a House investigation by withholding relevant documents and blocking witness testimony.

Fifty-two percent believe Trump obstructed Congress as they investigated the Ukraine affair, while 42% think he did not.

Fewer voters, just 34%, supported his withholding of U.S. aid, while 52% believed the freeze on aid was not justified.

The poll also found that the majority of voters have made up their minds on whether the Senate should vote to remove Trump or not — 89% said they have already made up their minds, and only 10% said they might change their minds.

Voters are nearly evenly split on the question of removal; 48% believe Trump should not be removed, while 47% think he should.

The poll surveyed 1,905 self-identified registered voters nationwide with a margin of error of +/-2.3 and 2,170 adults with a margin of error of +/-2.1. The margin of error among the 827 Democratic voters and independent voters who lean Democratic was +/-3.4.

Article by Katherine Huggins