At Least Some Americans Understand Honesty

Poll: 4 in 10 think Clinton acted unethically on emails

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON (TNS) — A plurality of voters — including big blocs of Democrats and independents — think Hillary Clinton did something unethical even if she did not break any laws in her use of a private email system for government business, according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll.

At the same time, voters are closely divided over whether she’s answered all the questions about the Benghazi attacks or the GOP-led Congress should keep investigating.

The results suggest that even as Clinton builds her lead for the Democratic presidential nomination over rival Bernie Sanders, a sizable number of voters have lingering questions about her behavior as secretary of state that would follow her through a general election campaign.

Of her use of private emails, a plurality of 40 percent of voters said they believe she acted unethically but legally. Another 28 percent said she did something illegal, and 27 percent said she did nothing wrong.

The ranks of those saying she acted unethically if legally includes a surprising number of voters of her own party or those not affiliated with any party. Forty percent of Democrats and 46 percent of independents say she did something unethical but not illegal.

“It was poor judgment mixing your professional and your private emails,” said Andrew Spevko, 52, a Democrat and a computer engineer from Berkeley, California. “That division should have been recognized.”

Clinton has been under fire for months for exclusively using a personal email account routed through a private computer server at her Chappaqua, New York, house for all four years she served as secretary of state.

The FBI launched an inquiry this summer into the handling of sensitive information after classified information was found in emails transmitted over Clinton’s server. The investigation has prompted questions about her judgment and motives for actions that potentially led to national security risks.

A plurality of voters from nearly every demographic group, including whites and Latinos, women and men, think she did something unethical but not illegal. The biggest numbers are younger voters, where 50 percent of those ages 18 to 29 say she did something wrong.

The question of whether Clinton did anything illegal predictably falls along partisan lines.

More than half of Republicans, 56 percent, think she did something illegal, while only 6 percent of Democrats do. More than 1 in 4 independents, 27 percent, think she broke the law.

“Hillary Clinton does very well with Democrats, no question, but independents are not so sure,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute of Public Opinion, which conducts the survey.

The numbers indicate that Clinton may not have too much to worry about the impact of her emails in the three-way Democratic primary. Her chief rival, Sanders, has not pressed her on the issues, saying at the first Democratic debate that “the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

But the issue may become a problem in a general election, where Clinton would be trying to appeal to independents and even Republicans.

Twenty-seven percent of voters think Clinton did nothing wrong. That is driven by a solid number of Democrats, 49 percent, and 22 percent of independents. Only 9 percent of Republicans think she did nothing wrong.

Most likely to think she did nothing wrong: African-Americans, “strong” Democrats and liberals.

Republicans on Capitol Hill determined Clinton used a private email system after they began investigating her role before and after the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in September 2012 that killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador.

Voters are split 49-45 percent on whether Clinton has sufficiently answered questions about the attack or whether Republicans should continue their investigation.

That division is reflected along most demographic groups, though African-Americans and those who live in the Northeast are much more likely to think she has answered questions. Only 6 percent of voters are unsure.

A solid majority of Republicans — 80 percent — think lawmakers should continue their inquiry, while only 15 percent of Democrats do.

–Anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau

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(Vera Bergengruen, Lesley Clark, William Douglas, Iana Kozelsky, David Lightman, Alexandria Montag, Grace Toohey and Victoria Whitley contributed to this story.)