Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to speak to the press at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023, announcing the unsealing of the indictment against former US President Donald Trump.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
The Department of Justice revealed on Friday that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has expended over $5.4 million in the past four and a half months since assuming control of two criminal investigations involving former President Donald Trump.
The largest portion of this amount, approximately $4.6 million, was allocated to staff salaries and benefits, as well as contractual services such as IT and litigation/investigative support. This information can be found in a report published by the DOJ, which can be accessed here.
The remaining funds were utilized for travel expenses, rent, printing, supplies, and equipment acquisition, as stated in the expenditure report. This report covers the period from November 18 through the end of March.
Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in mid-November to lead two criminal investigations. One investigation involves Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, resulting in an unprecedented federal criminal case against the former president. Trump has entered a plea of not guilty to 37 charges, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The second investigation, regarding potential illegal activities aimed at interfering with the transfer of power to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election, is still ongoing.
The DOJ also released separate spending reports for two other special counsels, Robert Hur and John Durham.
Robert Hur, who was assigned the task of investigating classified documents found at Biden’s office and private residence in mid-January, has expended $615,962 over a span of approximately three and a half months. Details can be found here.
John Durham, who has been looking into the origins of the DOJ’s investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign since October 2020, spent over $1.1 million from October to March, as reported by the agency. A comprehensive breakdown of his expenditures can be found here. In total, Durham’s reports reveal expenses totaling $7.7 million over this time period.
It is important to note that the special counsels’ activities are funded through the permanent appropriation for independent counsels, as stated in the reports.
Additionally, the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service incurred a combined cost of $3.8 million in support of Smith’s probes. However, this figure is not included in the total expenditure of $5.4 million, as the respective agencies covered their own expenses. The spending report from Smith’s office acknowledges that the FBI and USMS are not legally obligated to track these expenditures.
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