Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Trump investigation cost more than $9 million – Wake-up call

By Alanna Durkin Richer (Related Press)

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the keeping of classified records of former President Donald Trump and efforts to overturn the 2020 election cost more than $9 million in the first few months, according to documents released Friday. It is said that

According to a Justice Department spending report, the Special Counsel’s Office will pay staff salaries, travel and transportation costs, rent, We spent more than $5.4 million on supplies and materials.

Department of Justice officials spent an additional $3.8 million to assist the special counsel. These expenses include the cost of policing the special counsel’s office and the time spent by investigators and analysts on investigations.

Trump was indicted last month on 37 felony counts for illegally storing classified records in his Mar-a-Lago, Fla., mansion and refusing government demands for their return. Both Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta, who was indicted along with the former president, have pleaded not guilty.

Trump denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of attempting to undermine his goal of retaking the White House in 2024.

Smith also delves into efforts by Trump and his allies to undo President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Since Smith’s appointment, he has been instrumental in fundraising, Trump’s rallies ahead of the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, and interactions with Trump officials and election officials in battleground states. It has cast a wide net of relevant grueling interviews and testimonies.

In December, Smith subpoenaed local election officials in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania to accuse Trump, his 2020 campaign aide, and Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results. sought contact and engagement with a list of allies involved in

The Justice Department announced on Friday that it had paid for an investigation led by former Maryland Attorney Robert Herr into the existence of classified-marked documents found in Delaware President Joe Biden’s home and Washington office. Details have also been released. Xu’s team spent about $600,000 in Justice Department assistance, plus another $570,000, in the first two months of the investigation.

In contrast, Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to favor the 2016 election cost about $32 million, according to Justice Department documents. It is said that it took Mueller’s investigation resulted in about 30 criminal charges, including the conviction of six Trump associates.

Meanwhile, Special Counsel John Durham recently completed a four-year investigation into possible government errors and misconduct in an investigation into potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign that cost more than $9 million. . Durham’s report, released in May, said the FBI was rushing into the Russia investigation and overly reliant on raw, unverified information. The Durham investigation secured a guilty plea from a little-known FBI official, but the prosecution lost only two criminal cases before it went to trial.