How Much Did Robert Mueller's Investigation Cost? Report Cost Millions but Not As Much As Trump Has Claimed
By Tim Marcin On 3/22/19 at 5:10 PM EDT
Trump: If Public Wants To See Mueller Report 'Let Them See It'
After a lot of waiting, special counsel Robert Mueller delivered his investigation's report to the Justice Department late Friday afternoon, according to Attorney General William Barr.
There will certainly be a lot to explore in the hours, days and weeks to come. But among the questions surrounding the probe has been its cost to American taxpayers. The short answer: We don't know the exact figure quite yet. But we can try to project it.
The latest spending filing from Mueller's team came in December 2018 and covered April 1, 2018, to September 30, 2018. In that period, the special counsel's office spent roughly $4.6 million. About $2.9 million of that was on salary and benefits. The office also reported that $942,787 was spend on rent, communications, and utilities; about $580,000 on travel; and just over $300,000 on contractual services.
That $4.6 million in direct spending brought the total amountwhen added to the figures from the prior two reportsto $12.3 million. But the special counsel's office has also tracked other, complementary spending from the Justice Departmentsomething it says it was not legally required to dothat, it says, doesn't cost taxpayers additional money because the resources would have been spent elsewhere if the investigation did not exist. These Department of Justice component expenses came to $3.9 million in the latest filing, which brings the total to nearly $13 million over the life of the investigation.
So, in total, according to the latest filing in December, Mueller has spent just over $25 million if you include all costs. And, again, that amount tracks spending through September 2018. Mueller's team has tracked its spending in sixth-month increments, and it has been roughly six months since September. So, with that in mind, we can try to project the total costs. Mueller has spent roughly $6.5 million to $10 million in total costs in each period. Therefore, it would stand to reason the cost of the probe might come to between $31 million and $35 million.
Special counsel Robert Mueller leaves after a closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 21, 2017. His investigation has cost more than $25 million, in both direct and indirect costs. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Speaking with Newsweek ahead of the report's delivery to Barr, Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert and a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said it appeared Mueller was carrying out his investigation properly.
"I'm impressed with a lot of things I've read with how Mueller has conducted this investigation," she said. She later added that it seemed he was operating within the rules and norms of the Justice Department.
She noted that Ken Starr's Whitewater investigation was controversial in how it was conducted. Starr's probe of President Bill Clinton ultimately cost taxpayers about $70 million.
President Donald Trump has complained on more than one occasion about the cost of the probe, which he has repeatedly called "a witch hunt," and inflated the spending numbers. He tweeted in November: "When will this illegal Joseph McCarthy style Witch Hunt, one that has shattered so many innocent lives, ever endor will it just go on forever? After wasting more than $40,000,000 (is that possible?), it has proven only one thing-there was NO Collusion with Russia. So Ridiculous!"
However, others have argued that the Mueller probe cost nothing at all (or practically nothing) because it seized assets worth about $20 million to $40 million.
Clark said that prosecutors have to use discretion in what they pursue and that a risk with any special investigation is overusing resources to chase down one crime or another. "We don't try to uncover all crimes. Prosecutors use discretion," Clark said.
Later she added, "I think that what we've seen with the Mueller investigation so far is serious crimes getting charged."
#1: ghostdogtxn To: BTP Holdings (#0)
ghostdogtxn posted on 2019-12-01 07:48:30 Reply Private Reply
#2: Cynicom To: ghostdogtxn (#1)
Excellent assessment of a sorry chapter of history for this country.
Cynicom posted on 2019-12-01 08:05:37 Reply Private Reply
#3: noone222 To: BTP Holdings (#0)
This isn't how the law worked when the system wasn't so corrupted by lawyers. Prosecutorial discretion is what allows for selective prosecution that winds up with bribes taken by prosecutors and is in large part responsible for the rich not being prosecuted.
noone222 posted on 2019-12-01 08:19:28 Reply Private Reply
#4: BTP Holdings To: ghostdogtxn (#1)
I believe you are describing the Deep State here. All of those Federal employees who are working toward their retirement are at the root of it all. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2019-12-01 09:07:03 Reply Private Reply
#5: ghostdogtxn To: BTP Holdings (#4)
ghostdogtxn posted on 2019-12-02 07:21:56 Reply Private Reply
#6: BTP Holdings To: ghostdogtxn (#5)
I agree. The IRS is the main problem. All the money people pay into the system does not go to funding anything. It merely pays for the existence of the IRS.
And as Joe Bannister found out, the IRS collects an unlawful tax. And people pay it under threat of lien, levy and seizure.
I had two IRS liens against me in the town I lived when I was driving trucks. I called the recorder's office. They told me send a check for $4 and SASE and we will send you copies.
I had Lexington Law, credit repair lawyers in Salt Lake City challenge the IRS. They could not prove I owed the tax and were forced to withdraw the liens. My Credit Karma used to the "2" for Public Filings. Now it says "0". The proof is in the pudding. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2019-12-02 07:36:57 Reply Private Reply
#7: Lod To: ghostdogtxn, 4 (#5)
That and Smedley Butler's War is a Racket should be required reading for everyone.
Lod posted on 2019-12-02 10:04:43 Reply Private Reply
#8: GreyLmist To: BTP Holdings (#0)
GreyLmist posted on 2019-12-02 14:12:33 Reply Private Reply
#9: GreyLmist To: BTP Holdings (#0)
That sort of twisted thinking cost American lives and severely wounded the lives of other Americans during the Iraq War because our troops had to sandbag their vehicles and scavenge scrap metal parts to try and shield them after the Clinton administration decided to de-armor and under-armor our Military. Some of their flak jackets/bullet-resistant vests were ineffective, too, and so was some of their ammo. All of that tragedy was written off as if "thrifty" on .gov accounting documents and as big profit boons eventually for contractors in the manufacturing industries of "Up-armor Kits", protective gear and ammunition.
GreyLmist posted on 2019-12-02 14:44:00 Reply Private Reply
#10: BTP Holdings To: Lod, ghostdogtxn (#7)
And not one shred of this is taught in our schools, especially Perkins. The only reason I know about Butler is because I found him by reading on 4um.
Of course those men are the dark underbelly of our government. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2019-12-02 18:28:23 Reply Private Reply
#11: ghostdogtxn To: Lod (#7)
ghostdogtxn posted on 2019-12-02 20:55:33 Reply Private Reply