Trump special counsel probes total $12 million

The costs of prosecuting former President Trump’s two federal cases has surpassed $12 million, with special counsel Jack Smith disclosing in the latest financial filings that his office spent over $7.3 million in the last six months.

The required disclosure came alongside those of three other special counsels, including former special counsel John Durham.

The bulk of the spending from Smith’s office went toward personnel costs, covering the salaries of prosecutors working both on Trump’s election interference case in D.C., as well as his Florida-based case for mishandling classified documents. 

The disclosure came the day after Trump’s attorneys complained Smith has spent “untold tens of millions” prosecuting the former president. 

Funding for special counsels primarily comes from a permanent, indefinite appropriation set aside for independent counsels.

Special counsel Robert Hur, who is overseeing a probe into a small number of classified records found at President Biden’s residence and former office, spent just over $2.8 million over the last six months, for a total of about $3.4 million since he was appointed in January.

Special counsel David Weiss, who has brought tax and gun charges against Hunter Biden in two different states, spent just under $183,000 since he was appointed in August, the figure nodding to both his brief tenure as special counsel and that the bulk of his five-year investigation was conducted before being elevated to the role.

Durham, who released a report on his investigations on the FBI’s probe into the 2016 election and the Trump campaign, spent nearly $550,000 this cycle, the bulk to cover the expenses from contractors for litigation and IT support. Durham’s probe cost a total of $8 million since he was first appointed in October 2020.