Large majority in new poll says Trump hush-money allegations are believable

A large majority of Americans in a new poll said they find it believable that former President Trump paid adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to keep her from talking about an alleged affair between the two.

Seventy percent in the Reuters-Ipsos poll released on Tuesday said they find the allegations at the center of the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the former president to be very or somewhat believable.

While most Democrats — 89 percent — said they found the allegations believable, while 50 percent of Republicans also agreed that the claims against the former president appeared likely, the poll found.

A slightly smaller portion of Americans in the poll — 62 percent — said it is very or somewhat believable that the former president falsified business records and committed fraud. Legal experts have suggested that Trump could face such charges for allegedly concealing the hush-money payments to Daniels.

Republicans and Democrats are more split on whether the former president potentially falsified business records, with 92 percent of Democrats saying such allegations are believable compared to 32 percent of Republicans, according to the poll.

Even though the majority of those polled found the allegations against Trump believable, half agreed with the claim that an indictment of Trump on criminal charges would be “politically motivated.”

The claim — which has been repeated by the former president and many other GOP politicians — resonated more with Republicans in the poll. Eighty percent said they agreed with the statement that an indictment would be “politically motivated,” compared to 32 percent of Democrats.

The hush-money scandal has received increased attention after Trump suggested over the weekend that he could face an indictment in the Manhattan probe as soon as Tuesday, although a spokesperson later clarified that he had not been formally notified of charges.

However, the grand jury does appear likely to vote on charges on Wednesday, according to NewsNation.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll was conducted March 20-21 with 1,003 U.S. adults and had a credibility interval of 4-6 points.