Trump’s frustrated lawyers see their legal advice go down the drain every time the president gets tips from Fox News hosts: report

President Donald Trump believes that what he hears over public airwaves on Fox News is smarter legal advice than any attorney could provide, The New York Times reported Thursday.

White House counsel Pat Cipollone is currently directing Trump's legal strategy -- at least, that is, until he turns on cable news.

"Trump has been watching Fox News and other coverage of congressional efforts to obtain the parts of Mr. Mueller’s report that were redacted by Mr. Barr, people close to him said," The Times reported. "At times, his impulses have contradicted the lawyers’ advice, they said."

The Fox News approach may backfire.

"Yet the president risks actually pushing Democrats into doing what they otherwise might not have. After Mr. Mueller wrapped up his investigation by saying that he had not established a conspiracy between Mr. Trump and Russia and could neither accuse nor exonerate him of obstructing justice, House leaders poured water on the prospect of impeachment," The Times explained. "But the president’s stiff-arm response to congressional requests for testimony and information has angered Democrats and some say increased the chances that they may yet pursue impeachment."