Everyone Says Trump Is Guilty

[Mungo McRae]

With the first full week of hearings for the House select committee's
investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol now complete,
nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe former President Donald Trump should be
charged with a crime for his role in the incident, a new ABC News/Ipsos
poll finds.

Six in 10 Americans also believe the committee is conducting a fair and
impartial investigation, according to the poll.

In the poll, which was conducted by Ipsos in partnership with ABC News
using Ipsos' KnowledgePanel, 58% of Americans think Trump should be
charged with a crime for his role in the riot. That's up slightly from
late April, before the hearings began, when an ABC News/Washington Post
poll found that 52% of Americans thought the former president should be
charged.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll that asked a similar question days after
the attack in January 2021 found that 54% of Americans thought Trump
should be charged with the crime of inciting a riot.
MORE: Jan. 6, primaries combine to highlight 'clear and present danger':
The Note

Attitudes on whether Americans think Trump is responsible for the attack
on the U.S. Capitol remain relatively stable. In the new ABC News/Ipsos
poll, 58% of Americans think Trump bears a "great deal" or a "good
amount" of responsibility for the attack on the Capitol. This is unchanged
from an ABC News/Ipsos poll in December 2021 and similar to the findings
of an ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted just after the attack in
January 2021.

The poll divides along party lines, with 91% of Democrats thinking Trump
should be charged with a crime compared to 19% of Republicans. On whether
Trump bears a "great deal" or a "good amount" of responsibility for the
attack, 91% of Democrats and 21% of Republicans say he does.

Among self-described independents, 62% think Trump should be charged and
61% think he bears a "great deal" or a "good amount" of responsibility.
PHOTO: In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, President Donald Trumps
supporters gather outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, supporters of then-President Donald
Trump gather outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE

The ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted after the committee held its third
of seven public hearings scheduled for this month, which detail what the
committee says was a "sophisticated, seven-part plan" by Trump and his
supporters to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

On Friday, Trump lambasted the hearing, calling the panel "con artists,"
while continuing to air false claims about the 2020 election.
MORE: Trump fires back at Jan. 6 committee, calls hearings 'disgraceful
performance'

"There's no clearer example of the menacing spirit that has devoured the
American left than the disgraceful performance being staged by the
unselect committee," Trump said at a conference hosted by the Faith and
Freedom Coalition in Nashville, Tennessee.


Overall, 60% of Americans think the committee is conducting a fair and
impartial investigation while 38% say it is not, the new ABC News/Ipsos
poll found. That was evenly divided at 40% in the April ABC
News/Washington Post poll, which also found that 20% of Americans had no
opinion on the matter just two months ago.
MORE: Jan. 6 hearing key takeaways: Committee warns democracy 'in danger'

When it comes to the fairness of the committee, Americans are again
divided along party lines in the latest poll, with 85% of Democrats
finding the investigation fair and impartial, compared to 31% of
Republicans. Independents' views fall in-between at 63%.

Democrats are more likely to be following the hearings. Overall, 34% of
Americans are following the hearings very or somewhat closely, with 43% of
Democrats and 22% of Republicans saying so. In a reminder of where
political attention is, just under one in 10 (9%) Americans say they are
following the hearings very closely.

On whether the investigation will have an impact at the polls, just over
half (51%) of Americans say that what they've read, seen or heard about
the hearings has made no difference in who they plan to support in this
November's election. Meanwhile, 29% say they are more likely to support
Democratic candidates and 19% say they are more likely to support
Republican candidates.
PHOTO: Chairman Bennie Thompson, center, speaks as the House select
committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its
first public hearing on Capitol Hill, on June 9, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Chairman Bennie Thompson, center, speaks as the House select committee
investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public
hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol
Hill, on June 9, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Andrew Harnik/AP

The bipartisan committee, led by chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and
vice-chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is in the midst of summing up its 11-month-
long investigation into the attack. So far the hearings have largely
focused on how Trump pushed the "big lie" of a stolen 2020 race and the
pressure campaign on then-Vice President Mike Pence.

The panel has also shared never-before-seen footage from the riot and
interviews with Trump administration and White House officials.