Survey Finds Public Split Over Independent Counsel

The American public is sharply divided over whether an independent counsel should be appointed to investigate 1996 Democratic fund-raising activities, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

Forty-six percent of 1,016 adults interviewed on Saturday through Monday said an independent counsel should be appointed, while a statistically indistinguishable 49 percent said the investigations being conducted by Congress and the Department of Justice were enough.

The nationwide telephone poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

There is a strong strain of partisanship in the public’s feelings on this issue. Two-thirds of Republicans in the poll favor an independent counsel, while two-thirds of Democrats say the current investigations are sufficient.

Americans are also evenly divided on whether President Clinton did anything wrong in his 1996 fund raising. Forty percent said Clinton did nothing wrong, while another 40 percent disagreed. Those who perceived wrongdoing were asked whether they thought Clinton’s activities were either unethical or illegal. Twenty-one percent said the activities were illegal, while 19 percent said they were unethical.

In the six times this question has been asked since March in polls by The Times and CBS News, this was the first time that the perception of some type of wrongdoing by Clinton has reached as high as 40 percent.

But the divisions in opinion have not diminished the president’s job approval rating. Fifty-nine percent of Americans approve of the way Clinton is handling his overall job as president. It has remained near this level throughout the past year.