Nearly half of Americans consider President Biden’s handling of classified documents a “major scandal,” a Rasmussen Reports survey released this week found.
The survey noted that a special counsel is investigating how classified documents — from Biden’s time as vice president during the Obama administration — ended up in multiple locations, including his Delaware home. When asked if it is a major scandal, minor scandal, or no scandal at all, nearly half, 48 percent, agreed it is a “major scandal.”
Nearly a quarter, 24 percent, consider it a “minor” scandal, and another 24 percent consider it “no” scandal at all. Four percent remain unsure.
Nearly three-quarters of Republicans, 73 percent, consider it a “major scandal,” as do 50 percent of independents and 23 percent of Democrats. A plurality of Democrats, 40 percent, do not believe it is scandal at all.
Ian Sams, with the White House counsel’s office, speaks to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. The FBI has searched President Joe Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Del., home as part of its investigation into the potential mishandling of classified documents. Biden’s attorney says that agents didn’t find any classified documents during the Wednesday search, but did take some handwritten notes and other materials relating to Biden’s time as vice president for review. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The survey also asked, “How likely is it that information from classified documents was used by Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in his foreign business deals?”
Most believe it is at least somewhat likely, and of those, 44 percent believe it is “very” likely. Most, 59 percent, also at least somewhat agree that the Biden family has been “influence-peddling for a decade.”
The survey was taken January 26-29, 2023, among 900 likely U.S. voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error.
A recent survey from The Economist/YouGov found that more than three-quarters of Americans support a Department of Justice investigation into Biden over the classified documents found in multiple locations. Further, a CNN poll released last week found that 80 percent of Democrats, specifically, also support the DOJ’s appointment of a special counsel to investigate. Attorney General Merrick Garland made that announcement on January 12.
“I concluded that under the special counsel regulations, it was in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” Garland said at the time, announcing that former U.S. attorney from Maryland Robert Hur will investigate.