The special counsel has racked up nearly $10 million in expenditures during the latest six-month accounting period, bringing the total cost of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign nearly $17 million.
The latest figures reported by the Department of Justice on Thursday represent expenditures from October 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018. The costs include compensation for prosecutors, rent, travel and transportation.
Mueller’s team spent $4,506,624 in direct expenditures, and the Justice Department reported spending an additional $5,467,000 in support of the investigation during the latest six month period – a combined total of $9,982,624.
A previous Justice Department report for the period between May 17, 2017 – the start of the investigation – and September 30, 2017 showed nearly $7 million for both the special counsel’s office and costs incurred by Justice Department components in support of the investigation.
According to those figures, the total combined price tag for the Mueller investigation from May 17, 2017 through March 31, 2018 is $16,742,319.
In the past month, President Trump has lamented the special counsel’s investigation on Twitter as a “soon to be $20,000,000 Witch Hunt,” adding that, “They have found no Collussion [sic] with Russia, No Obstruction.”
Since his appointment as special counsel in May 2017, Mueller has already issued eight indictments covering 19 individuals and three businesses, secured five guilty pleas, has two criminal cases headed to trial, and one individual already serving a prison sentence.
As ABC News has previously reported, investigations of this nature can take years to resolve and can run into the tens of millions of dollars.
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