Nearly half of Americans ‘very concerned’
about Clinton emails: Reuters/Ipsos poll
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[September 15, 2016]
By Chris Kahn
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly half of
American adults are "very concerned" about two issues that have hounded
Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign this year: her use of a private
email server to conduct government business and donations to her
family's charitable foundation, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion
poll released on Wednesday.
Both issues stem from Clinton's tenure between 2009 and 2013 as
secretary of state, during President Barack Obama's first term. During
that time, she used an unauthorized private email server to conduct
government business - something that the Federal Bureau of Investigation
earlier this summer criticized as "extremely careless."
The Clinton Foundation's acceptance of donations from foreign
governments and corporations while Clinton herself was secretary of
state has drawn criticism about possible conflicts of interest. In
August, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called on the
Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate
whether Clinton granted any special favors in exchange for those
donations.
The Sept. 2-11 online poll found that 46 percent of American adults said
they were "very concerned" about Clinton's use of a personal email
account, while 47 percent said the same about donations from foreign
governments or corporations to the Clinton Foundation.
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The public appears to have mostly responded to these issues along party
lines, with nearly twice as many Republicans expressing concern as
Democrats. However, a considerable portion of Democrats appear to be
just as rattled by the reports.
Among Democrats, 21 percent were very concerned about Clinton's emails,
and 22 percent were very concerned about the Clinton Foundation
donations. Among Clinton supporters, 14 percent said they are very
concerned about the emails, and the same proportion said they are
concerned about donations.
The issues, which have drawn wide attention by the media and by her
opponents, may have eroded Clinton's popularity, but it is not clear
whether they have made a lasting impact on her level of support in the
presidential race against Trump, where she holds a small lead.
Since the beginning of August, a growing portion of Americans have
expressed a negative view of Clinton. Yet, when asked to pick between
her and Trump for president, Americans have given a small, but
consistent advantage to Clinton.
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a news
conference on the airport tarmac in front of her campaign plane in
White Plains, New York, United States September 8, 2016.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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According to the poll, among the respondents who said they were
concerned about the emails, 52 percent said the main reason was
because the emails might contain classified information that was
vulnerable to hackers. Another 40 percent were mostly concerned that
Clinton had violated State Department policies.
Among those who said they were concerned about donations to the
Clinton Foundation, 48 percent said they were generally concerned
about foreign money being contributed to organizations run by
high-ranking politicians, while 38 percent said they were
specifically concerned that donors had more access to Clinton while
she was serving in the Obama administration.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50
states. It asked questions only to those respondents who were aware
of the email and the Clinton Foundation issues. There were 2,745
respondents for the email questions, including 1,070 registered
Democrats and 944 registered Republicans. There were 2,116
respondents for the Foundation questions, including 817 registered
Democrats and 801 registered Republicans.
The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2
percentage points for the entire sample, and 4 points for the
Democrats and Republicans.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Leslie Adler)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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