Poll: 44 percent say they want Congress to start impeachment proceedings against Trump

A new Axios/Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday reveals 44 percent of respondents want Congress to begin impeachment proceedings against President Trump. 

Stances on impeachment among respondents fell sharply along party lines, with 79 percent of Democrats favoring the move, compared to 49 percent of independents and 8 percent of Republicans saying the same.

The poll was conducted after Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and campaign finance law violations.

{mosads}Cohen’s campaign finance law violations stem from payments the lawyer arranged during the campaign to women who allegedly had affairs with Trump. Cohen said he made the payments at the direction of “a federal candidate for office,” seemingly implicating the president.

A majority, 64 percent, of Americans believe that Trump ordered Cohen to make the payments.

Those numbers too are largely divided along party lines, with 93 percent of Democrats believing Trump directed the payments, compared to 66 percent of independents and 38 percent of Republicans. 

A majority of various subgroups, including millennials, suburban white women and rural voters, believe Trump told Cohen to arrange the payments. 

The poll suggests that while most Americans believe Trump was behind the payments to the women, that same majority does not see that move as an impeachable offense.

A handful of Democrats have publicly supported bringing impeachment proceedings against the president. But Democratic leadership, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have been wary of the prospect.

The Axios/Survey Monkey poll was conducted online from August 22-24 among 4,362 adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.