The survey results, published on Friday, showed that 58% of respondents felt the appointment of a special master was reasonable. Meanwhile, 42% of Americans do not approve of the independent review and believe that the FBI should be trusted to sort out documents with its own filter team, according to the poll.
At the same time, 52% of respondents said they believed the US Justice Department was using the search warrant to carry out a fishing expedition to find other things they could use against Trump.
On August 8, the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and examined the premises for nine hours during which they seized 11 sets of documents and other materials, some of which were labeled "Top Secret," according to the disclosed search warrant receipt.
At the start of September, the Justice Department revealed a detailed inventory, which outlines the general types of items in 33 boxes of documents taken from an office and a storage room in Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. It mentions 48 "empty folders with ‘classified’ banners" across four boxes.
On Monday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon said she would allow a third-party examination of some of the documents seized during the search at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, suspending the government investigation until the review by the special master is finished. Cannon said the decision was made taking into account the potential harm from the disclosure of Trump's personal information.
The US Justice Department has appealed the federal judge's decision to appoint a special master.
Trump has denied having classified documents and has criticized the Mar-a-Lago raid as being done by a politicized FBI and Justice Department to prevent him from running in the 2024 presidential election.