“President Trump has spent more in taxpayer dollars on his frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida than Robert Mueller’s office has spent on the Russia investigation so far, despite Trump’s attacks on the high cost of the Russia probe,” The Hill reports.

“The president has repeatedly attacked the Mueller probe for racking up millions of dollars in expenditures after the Justice Department reported this week that the special counsel’s office had spent roughly $16.7 million… But that number is dwarfed by the amount required to pay for the president’s numerous trips to the ‘Winter White House,’ which The Washington Post and Politico analyses have estimated to cost taxpayers on average between $1 and $3 million dollars per trip.”

“President Trump’s lawyers have for months quietly waged a campaign to keep the special counsel from trying to force him to answer questions in the investigation into whether he obstructed justice, asserting that he cannot be compelled to testify and arguing in a confidential letter that he could not possibly have committed obstruction because he has unfettered authority over all federal investigations,” the New York Times reports.

“In a brash assertion of presidential power, the 20-page letter — sent to the special counsel, Robert Mueller III and obtained by The New York Times — contends that the president cannot illegally obstruct any aspect of the investigation into Russia’s election meddling because the Constitution empowers him to, “if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon.”

“Mr. Trump’s lawyers fear that if he answers questions, either voluntarily or in front of a grand jury, he risks exposing himself to accusations of lying to investigators, a potential crime or impeachable offense.”