After three days of hearings examining the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a new poll found that a majority of Americans say that former President Donald Trump should face charges for his role in the insurrection. 

What You Need To Know

  • A new ABC News / Ipsos poll published Sunday found that found that 58% of respondents believe that the former president should be charged for his role in the Jan. 6 riot

  • The results of the survey are mostly divided along party lines, with more than 90% of Democrats saying that Trump bears a “great deal” or “good amount” of responsibility for the attack on the capital, compared with only 21% of Republicans

  • Though the hearings have already attracted millions of viewers, only 34% of those surveyed said they are following the committee's investigation, with just 9% saying they are following it closely

  • Whether the hearings will have an impact on the upcoming midterms is still uncertain, with around half – 51% – of the respondents stating that the hearings have made no difference in how they plan to vote in the upcoming midterm elections

The new ABC News/Ipsos survey, published on Sunday, found that 58% of respondents believe that the former President should be charged with a crime for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, up from 52% in an ABC News/Washington Post poll from earlier this year. 

The poll comes as the House Select Committee continues to hold its public hearings investigating the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, with the next hearing set for Tuesday.

The poll surveyed 545 adults after the third day of hearings, which detailed how Trump turned his supporters against the then-Vice President, Mike Pence. Among those surveyed, 28% were Democrats, 26% were Republicans and 40% were independents. 

The results of the survey are mostly divided along party lines, with more than 90% of Democrats saying that Trump bears a “great deal” or “good amount” of responsibility for the attack on the capital, compared with only 21% of republicans. 

More than 60% of independents polled say that the former president should be charged. 

The survey comes amid multiple reports in recent weeks that the panel is split over whether or not to make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. Earlier this month, members of the panel said that they have collected enough evidence for the department to consider an indictment.

The panel’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., made waves last week when he told reporters that making a criminal referral is “not our job.”

“Our job is to look at the facts and the circumstances around January 6th, what caused it, and make recommendations after that,” he said.

Minutes later, vice chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., took to Twitter to say that the panel “has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals. We will announce a decision on that at an appropriate time.”

In an interview with Spectrum News, Florida Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a member of the panel, said that’s up to the Justice Department to decide.

“My job on the committee is to lay out all of the facts and to provide legislative recommendations,” Murphy said, adding: "The Department of Justice will make their decisions as to whether or not they need to launch criminal investigations ... I'm happy to leave them to do their job and I'm going to focus on mine."

California Rep. Adam Schiff, another member of the panel, echoed similar sentiments in a separate interview with Spectrum News.

“It'll be the Justice Department's job to decide if laws were broken and who should be prosecuted,” the California Democrat said.

“We haven't made a decision,” Schiff said. “We will, I think, when the hearings are over, begin those discussions about whether to make criminal referrals if we do what kind of referrals and against what individuals. So we're going across the bridge when we come to it.

“But it's also I think, important for the public to understand that the Justice Department doesn't sit around waiting for Congress to refer criminal matters,” he continued. “If they believe a crime has been committed, it's their obligation to investigate.” 

Though the hearings have already attracted millions of viewers, only 34% of those surveyed said they are following the committee's investigation, with just 9% saying they are following it closely.

Respondents were then asked about the hearing itself and whether the committee was conducting a fair and impartial investigation. 

A majority of Democrats in the survey believed the hearings were fair and impartial, compared with only a third of Republicans. Among independents, 63% said the committee is fair and impartial.

Whether the hearings will have an impact on the upcoming midterms is still uncertain, with around half –  51% – of the respondents stating that the hearings have made no difference in how they plan to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.