Special Counsel Jack Smith spent $5.4 million on staff compensation and other expenses in his first four months leading two criminal investigations involving former President Donald Trump.
The Justice Department on Friday released Smith’s initial spending report, covering the period from his appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18 through March 31.
The Justice Department also spent more than $3.8 million to support Smith’s team, including by agents and other investigative analysts and protective security details, according to the report. That brings the total cost of the investigations during Smith’s first period in office to $9.2 million.
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The special counsel’s office brought its first indictment in June, charging Trump with mishandling national defense information and conspiring to obstruct justice. Smith’s team has signaled in court papers that probe is still active. The second investigation, exploring efforts by Trump and others to overturn the 2020 presidential election, is ongoing and hasn’t resulted in indictments so far.
Smith’s first few months were more costly than the first four moths of the first special counsel to investigate Trump, Robert Mueller, who in 2017 reported spending $3.2 million plus the $3.5 million spent by other department agencies in support. But there are significant differences between their operations, including that Smith took over two investigations that had already been active for months featuring different teams of prosecutors and investigators. Inflation could mean that salaries and the cost of rent and other resources may also be higher compared to 2017.
Mueller ended up spending approximately $16.4 million on his two-year investigation; other Justice Department offices spent $15.5 million supporting him.
The department on Friday also released spending reports for two other special counsels active at the start of the year. Robert Hur, appointed by Garland in January to explore whether President Joe Biden mishandled classified material, reported spending just under $616,000, in addition to $572,000 in other Justice Department support.
Hur’s investigation is ongoing; his office hasn’t brought charges so far.
John Durham, who recently concluded his years-long investigation into the origins of the federal probe into Trump’s 2016 campaign and foreign interference in that election, reported spending $1.1 million between Oct. 1 and March 31. The department spent an additional $59,000 supporting his team.
The largest portion of Smith’s spending went toward paying staff, totaling $2.6 million. The report doesn’t detail how many people are working for him, but it does note that the majority of compensation, $2.4 million, went to current Justice Department employees detailed to his office.
Smith spent $1.8 million contracting investigative and litigation support services and more than $456,000 on rent and facilities-related expenses.
