Poll: Slim majority wants FBI to investigate allegation against Kavanaugh

A slim majority of respondents said in a new poll that the FBI should investigate Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s.

Fifty-three percent of Americans said that they want the FBI to investigate, according to the CBS News Battleground Tracker poll, while 47 percent say there should not be an FBI investigation.

A strong partisan split was evident, with 82 percent of Democrats supporting an FBI investigation and 87 percent of Republicans opposing it, CBS News noted. 

{mosads}When presented with the option of “more investigations and hearings” or simply holding a confirmation “vote in the next few days,” Almost six in ten people — 59 percent — said they would favor “more investigations and hearings” before a vote. 

However, 41 percent said they would prefer the Senate Judiciary Committee just hold the “vote in the next few days.” 

More than three-quarters of Republicans — 77 percent — said a vote should be held “in the next few days” absent a hearing, a position Senate Republicans have not embraced.

Ford is set to testify before the Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning, her attorney said on Sunday.  The announcement came after negotiations slipped into the weekend amid a standoff between her lawyers and staff for Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

“We made important progress on our call this morning with Senate Judiciary Committee staff members,” Ford’s legal team announced on Sunday afternoon. “We committed to moving forward with an open hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. Despite actual threats to her safety and her life, Dr. Ford believes it is important for senators to hear directly from her about the sexual assault committed against her.”

Ford’s lawyers initially indicated the FBI reopening its probe was a precursor to any public testimony.

The Department of Justice said, however, that Ford’s allegation did not involve any potential federal crime. 

YouGov pollsters interviewed 2,262 adults for this CBS Battleground Tracker from Sept. 20 to 21. Their survey results have a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.