NEW YORK - Four in 10 Americans believe sexual misconduct allegations against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, while three in 10 do not and the rest do not know, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that split largely along party lines.
The poll, released on Sunday, follows an emotionally charged week in Washington, during which Kavanaugh's once-certain confirmation was jeopardized after three women made allegations against him, including accusations of assault and exposing himself in public in the 1980s.
Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge nominated to the country's top court by US President Donald Trump, has denied those allegations. The FBI has opened an investigation after Trump bowed to pressure from moderate Senate Republicans.
The poll found that 42 percent of adults said they believed the accusations, including about the same number of men and women. Thirty-one percent do not believe them and 27 percent said they "don't know" what to believe.
The responses were divided largely along partisan lines - about two-thirds of Democrats said they believed the allegations and nearly two-thirds of Republicans said they did not.