Poll: Nearly a third in U.S. think Trump acted illegally in 2016 campaign

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Nearly a third of Americans say they believe President Donald Trump acted illegally in some fashion during the 2016 presidential campaign.

A Gallup poll showed 29 percent said Trump broke the law by cooperating with Russian operatives during the campaign.

For months, Russia has been the focus of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Justice Department investigation.

The Gallup figures show, however, that 35 percent of Americans believe Trump did nothing wrong -- and 27 percent said he behaved unethically, but not illegally.

In a separate question, 31 percent said Trump acted illegally in making payments to silence two women who claimed affairs with him in 2016. Thirty-seven percent said Trump acted unethically but not illegally, and 23 percent said he did nothing wrong.

The poll also indicates many Americans are paying more attention to the Russia investigation than to the hush-money scandal. Thirty-three percent said they are following Mueller's investigation "very closely" and 32 percent said they follow it "somewhat closely." About the payments, 18 percent said they're following the story "very closely" and 31 percent "somewhat closely."

Nearly three-quarters of self-identified Republicans said Trump is blameless in the Russia matter and 48 percent said he did nothing wrong with the payments. On both questions, 59 percent of Democrats said he acted illegally.

Gallup questioned more than 1,500 people for the survey, which has a margin of error of 4 points.