The Horowitz Report: What Voters Think

Now, let's look at the Inspector General's report on the FBI and the Carter Page warrants. This topic is on almost the other side of what people see as important investigations. Only 22% were very familiar with this Inspector General's report. It's a pretty low number, considering the importance of the report. 46% said they were somewhat familiar. To the best of your knowledge, do you think the DOJ inspector report absolves the FBI of any mistakes or does it reveal patterns of violations of process and misjudgment?

We tried to kind of see what does the American public think this report says? They don't seem to know it very well, but has the general message about the report gotten through? In some areas, yes. Now, 39% very familiar number in the rest of the polls, say that it absolves the FBI. Remember, former FBI Director James Comey wrote an editorial basically saying... Or an op-ed, saying that he was vindicated by this report and has had many TV reappearances saying precisely that. 39% say that. 61% say it reveals patterns of violations and misjudgment.

Interesting. Do you think the DOJ Inspector General report says that the Christopher Steele dossier alleging Trump-Russia collusion was found to be mostly truthful or mostly false and unverified? Now, this report is pretty clear that this dossier did not have the kind of verified information that could really support a warrant for Carter Page. And yet, 53% believe that the DOJ Inspector General found that the dossier was mostly truthful. Only 47% said it was mostly false and unverified. So it says that the issue of Trump-Russia collusion is not dead at all. It still animates a considerable amount of the electorate.

And we asked, "Without talking about the Inspector General report, do you think the Steele dossier alleging Trump-Russia collusion is mostly truthful or mostly false and unverified?" 50% say mostly truthful. This is an incredible finding, given that there've been two Senate reports, the Mueller Investigation, and now the Inspector General's report, that none of this information was found to be verified. And certainly the characterization of mostly truthful is not something that any of these investigations would now apply to those general reports and yet, 50% of America remains convinced that it is a mostly truthful document.

Do you think the DOJ Inspector General says there was justification for surveillance of Carter Page by the FBI or no such justification existed for the surveillance of Carter page? 54% said justification existed. Now, technically the report didn't say that. Technically, the reports said there was justification for opening an investigation. The question of surveilling Carter Page is quite different. That's where the report was quite negative, particularly about the use of the dossier.

Do you think there was justification then, I ask without the report, justification for the surveillance of Carter Page by the FBI? 52% believe that the justification existed. Again, a lot of this reflects the way this report was covered. Do you think the DOJ Inspector General report says there was no political bias in the investigation, that there was political bias, or that he couldn't find documented evidence of political bias? 28% say no, 41%, another familiar number, say there was, and 32% say he couldn't find documented evidence.

If we asked them, "Do you think that there was political bias in the investigation or no political bias outright?" 44% say there was no political bias. 56% say there was political bias. So the American public believes there was political bias, right? They got that the report didn't really take a position on the political bias but half the public does think that the dossier is a mostly-truthful document.