Special counsel investigations into Trump cost at least $5.4 million

The investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s hoarding of government records and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election cost taxpayers about $5.4 million from November through March when special counsel, Jack Smith, Mr. Trump began to sue, the Justice Department announced on Friday.

Budgeting documents also revealed that Robert K. Hur, the special counsel investigating President Biden’s handling of classified documents after he left the vice presidency, spent just under $616,000 from his appointment in January through March. .

And John H. Durham, who was assigned as special counsel during the Trump administration to investigate the Russia investigation, reported spending just over $1.1 million from October 2022 to the end of March, representing the first half of fiscal year 2022-2023. Mr Durham’s inquiry had ended, but he was in the process of writing a final report which he delivered in May.

The budget revelations related to an extraordinary period in which the Justice Department had three special counsel on duty – prosecutors who operate with a greater degree of day-to-day autonomy than regular US attorneys. Now that Mr Durham’s inquiry has been completed, two such inquiries remain.

Last month, Mr. Smith, who was nominated in November, received a grand jury indictment against Mr. Trump and an aide, Walt Nauta. The former president faces 31 counts of unauthorized retention of classified national security documents and six other counts of charges of obstructing the investigation and causing one of his lawyers to lie to the government.

Mr. Smith has also continued to investigate Mr. Trump and some of his associates over efforts to overturn the 2020 election results that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. Both investigations have resulted in significant litigation over Mr. Trump’s attempts to block grand jury testimony by several witnesses under attorney-client privilege.

The largest line item of Mr. Smith’s expenses through the end of March — $2,672,783 — covered employee benefits and expenses, according to the statement of expenses. Most of that salary money was intended to reimburse the Justice Department for employees already working for the government who had been forwarded to the special counsel’s office.

Mr. Smith’s operation also paid $1,881,926 for contractual services, including litigation and research support and purchase transcripts.

Mr. Hur’s investigation has gone much more smoothly. Mr. Garland appointed him in January after several classified documents were found in a former office of Mr. Biden in Washington and at his home in Wilmington, Del. Mr Biden and his lawyers, who notified the government of the discoveries and their retention as accidental, have said they are cooperating with the investigation.

The largest line item in Mr. Hur’s office during the two-and-a-half months covered by the budget document was also employee compensation and benefits, at $346,139. That figure indicates that his operation is significantly smaller than Mr. Smith’s, reflecting the narrower scope of his remit.

Of the three special counsel, only Mr. Durham’s office was active for the entire six-month period covered by the budget documents. His biggest expense — $544,044 — also covered employee salaries and benefits.

To date, Mr. Durham has reported spending about $7.7 million in taxpayers’ money since Attorney General William P. Barr gave him special counsel status in October 2020, allowing him to continue his investigation after Mr. lost elections.

However, Mr Durham began his assignment in the spring of 2019, and the Justice Department has not disclosed what taxpayers spent in the first 16 months of his employment. That period included trips to Europe while Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham fruitlessly pursued a pro-Trump conspiracy theory that the Russia investigation was born in a plot by Western spy agencies.

Mr Durham also later developed two close cases accusing non-governmental officials of making false statements, both of which ended in acquittals.