Independents are breaking hard for Donald Trump in swing states around the country. McClatchyDC reports that the renewed FBI probe of Hillary Clinton is spurring undecided voters to join the ranks of Trump supporters.
In Wisconsin, a state that for months has been seen as safe Democratic turf, a new Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday found a shift in independent voters’ views. Many moved toward Trump after the FBI said Friday it was again probing Clinton’s use of a private email system for government business.
In Florida, a new CNN/ORC survey of Florida voters had Clinton up 2 and Quinnipiac had her up 1. Trump was leading among independent voters, 46-40, Quinnipiac found.
In Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac gave Clinton a 4-point edge, while CNN/ORC had her up 5. Clinton was ahead by 4 with independent voters, Quinnpiac said.
In North Carolina, Trump was up 45-38 among independents, Quinnpiac said. Clinton led overall by 3. Quinnipiac’s polls were conducted Thursday through Tuesday.
In Wisconsin, among independent voters, Clinton was up by 7 over Trump on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday, Trump jumped to a 10 point advantage, then back to 8 in Saturday through Monday interviews.
He also solidified support among Republicans. Nearly three in four backed him Wednesday and Thursday, 87 percent on Friday and 86 percent on Saturday through Monday.
The FBI probe is part of an explosion of bad news for the Clinton Campaign. Aside from her email handling woes, Clinton has come under for once again for practices at the Clinton Family Foundation. The Wall Street Journal reports on revelations that FBI field agents have been stymied in their attempts to investigate fully the promising leads they found regarding the foundation and its donors.
The roots of the dispute lie in a disagreement over the strength of the case, these people said, which broadly centered on whether Clinton Foundation contributors received favorable treatment from the State Department under Hillary Clinton.
Senior officials in the Justice Department and the FBI didn’t think much of the evidence, while investigators believed they had promising leads their bosses wouldn’t let them pursue, they said.
These details on the probe are emerging amid the continuing furor surrounding FBI Director James Comey’s disclosure to Congress that new emails had emerged that could be relevant to a separate, previously closed FBI investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s email arrangement while she was secretary of state.
