As Robert Mueller‘s probe into Russian election interference gets closer to the president’s inner circle with Michael Flynn’s expected testimony, conservatives aiming to drum up anti-Mueller sentiment are amplifying the cost of the investigation. The Department of Justice reported that Mueller’s team has spent $3.2 million on the probe so far, with other law enforcement agencies spending $3.5 million, bring the total to $6.7 million. As Trump-backing commentators characterize as high the cost of assessing how much influence the Russians exerted on the election, others recognize the figure as small in the scheme of things. If the new warfare is digital (and it is), then a forensic investigation into the true extent of digital transgressions by Russians is cheap at any price — and should be expected to climb much higher.
For perspective, the $6.7 million cost to taxpayers is nearly equal to the cost of President Trump’s trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort through just his first six months in office. In late July, the cost to taxpayers of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago trips was estimated to already be at $6.6 million.
