DOJ has spent more than $9M investigating Trump, less than $1.2M probing Biden: report

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s two investigations into former President Donald Trump have cost taxpayers more than $9 million — while the Justice Department probe into President Biden’s classified documents case has so far cost $1.2 million.

The figures, revealed in newly released DOJ reports, account for the spending by the respective special counsels, as well as costs incurred by other Justice Department agencies related to the probes through the end of March. 

Smith’s statement of expenditures shows the special counsel has spent more than $5.4 million on compensations and benefits for personnel, travel, rent, supplies, printing and contractual services in the Trump probes.

Other DOJ agencies have incurred expenses totaling $3.8 million assisting Smith with his investigations into the 77-year-old former president, including by providing investigative support analysts and a security detail for the special counsel “when warranted,” the report states. 

Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland last November, has been leading the probes into Trump’s handling of sensitive national security documents and his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 

The current spending totals could actually be much higher than stated in the report since they do not account for any activities conducted in April, May, June and July – a period which marked a significant escalation in the special counsel’s investigation and Trump’s indictment on 37 felony counts related to the classified documents probe. 

In contrast to the Trump probes, the special counsel appointed in January to investigate President Biden’s own classified documents scandal has only spent $615,000 through March, another DOJ report released Friday showed. 

Other DOJ agencies incurred about $572,000 in additional expenses supporting Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden, leading to a total of about $1.2 million in taxpayer money used on the probe. 

Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation into the FBI’s handling of debunked allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the leadup to the 2016 election cost taxpayers about $1.1 million in the six months preceding March 31, a third DOJ report released Friday showed.

Durham, who was appointed by former Attorney General William Barr in October of 2020, only incurred $59,174 in additional expenses from other DOJ agencies in the final months of his investigation. 

Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was tapped to investigate the Russian collusion allegations against Trump, spent about  $31.5 million during his two-year-long probe, according to the DOJ.