WASHINGTON, December 7. /TASS/. Around half of Americans (48%) believe that the investigation into dealings between Trump associates and Russia is politically motivated, as shown by a poll conducted by SSRS of Glen Mills, PA on behalf of CBS News.

According to the survey’s results, 81% of those who consider the investigation to be politically motivated are Republicans, while only 23% of Democrats share this opinion. As many as 46% of those polled said that the investigation was justified, 74% of them being Democrats and 17% Republicans.

At the same time, 67% of Americans believe that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s decision to plead guilty to lying to the FBI about contact with the Russian ambassador and cooperate with the special counsel is a serious matter for the Trump administration. As many as 27% said that the matter was not serious.

A total of 67 of the poll’s participants said that senior Trump advisors were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to have improper dealings with Russia before Donald Trump was sworn in as president, while a total of 26% said that it was "not very likely" or "not at all likely."

The poll, involving 1,120 adults nationwide, was conducted by telephone on December 3-5.

The FBI, as well as the intelligence committees of the US Senate and House of Representatives, have been handling the investigation into Russia’s alleged interference into the 2016 US presidential election. In May, the US Department of Justice announced that former FBI Chief Robert Mueller had been appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference.

Trump and key members of his team have been repeatedly rejecting all the accusations concerning collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Moscow has also been refuting these allegations.