Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation could cost up to $35 million once all of the expenses are tallied.
Mueller submitted the report on his probe into Russian election interference to Attorney General William Barr on Friday, signaling the end of the special counsel's direct role in this matter. Barr has since delivered a summary of the report to Congress, which said Mueller did not find any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Barr's summary also said the special counsel did not find Trump to be guilty of obstruction of justice or any other crime, but still "does not exonerate him."
Reacting to the findings on Sunday, Trump described the Mueller probe as an "illegal takedown that failed."
The president's allies are now going full-steam-ahead with criticism of the investigation particularly its financial cost.
"This is a two-year waste of taxpayer time and dollars. They spent over $25 million on this just to find out that there was nothing there," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on the "Today" show on Monday. "This should never happen to another president, and we want to make sure that the institution of the president is protected."
Mueller's office spent $12,287,852 between May 2017 and September 2018.
The most recent of three expense reports showed a total of $4,567,533 for the period of April 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018. Approximately $2.9 million was spent on salary and benefits, $942,787 on rent, communications, and utilities, and $15,618 on printing and reproduction, among other expenditures.
Though not legally required to do so, the special counsel also reported on "component expenses," or the amount of money the Department of Justice spent in support of the investigation. The most recent report listed these costs at $3,906,000.
In total, for the period of May 2017 to September 2018, "component expenses" came out to $12,928,000.
Adding up all three expense reports , including direct spending and "component expenses," we know the Mueller investigation cost approximately $25 million up to September 2018.
We're still waiting on the final expense report for the last six months of the probe.
Based on the total approximate costs outlined in the first three reports $6.8 million, $10 million, and $8.5 million the entire Mueller probe could somewhere between $32 to $35 million.
Mueller's probe has also seized millions in assets.
Paul Manafort, who served as Trump's campaign chairman in 2016, in a September 2018 plea deal with the special counsel agreed to forfeit assets estimated to be worth up to $42 million.
Proponents of Mueller's investigation have contended these seized assets mean the probe has virtually paid for itself.
But the Justice Department told NBC News that the seized assets will not go directly to funding the investigation.
The total cost of the Mueller investigation so far, as well as the estimated final cost, is far lower than past probes that were also divisive.
The special counsel investigation into former President Bill Clinton's real estate ventures, known as the Whitewater investigation, lasted a little over seven years and cost approximately $70 million roughly $107 million when adjusted for inflation.
Going all the way back to President Jimmy Carter, there have been 21 completed independent counsel and special counsel investigations of presidential administrations, according to Politico , with a total cost of $339 million when adjusted for inflation. Of the 21 probes, 12 concluded without any indictments.
Mueller's team charged eight Americans once affiliated with Trump's campaign or administration, 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, and two other people.
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