A new Reuters poll released on Monday revealed that nearly three in four Republicans believe that the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are working to “delegitimize” President Donald Trump.
Seventy-three percent of Republicans surveyed agreed that “members of the FBI and Department of Justice are working to delegitimize Trump through politically motivated investigations.”
Meanwhile, three in four Democrats believe that “members of the Republican Party and the White House are working to delegitimize the FBI and DOJ in the investigation of Russian tampering in the 2016 presidential election.”
This Reuters poll marks a drastic shift in Republicans’ view of the FBI and DOJ; roughly 84 percent of Republicans said in a January 2015 Reuters poll that they had a “favorable” view of the FBI.
The Reuters poll was conducted in the wake of the House Intelligence Committee memo that suggested that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the DOJ used the Steele dossier to spy on Trump campaign staffer Carter Page.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, argued during a conference call on Friday that members of the DOJ and FBI dressed up an opposition research document to “spy on an American citizen during a presidential campaign.”
The memo also revealed that the FBI and the DOJ allegedly failed to disclose the role of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Clinton campaign had in funding the Steele dossier.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement on Friday in the wake of the FISA memo’s release, “an American’s civil liberties may have been violated.”
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