Robert Mueller has spent $3.2 million on special counsel's Russia investigation
Special Counsel Robert Mueller has released a statement of the costs of investigating Russian meddling for the period from May 17 until the end of September, part of a commitment to release reports of his outlays every six months.
The special counsel's office spent $3,213,695, according to the report, and it also disclosed spending by Justice Department "components that support" the special counsel's office. That spending amounted to $3,546,000, and the special counsel's office says that DOJ would have incurred these costs "irrespective of the existence of the SCO."
The special counsel has over a dozen lawyers working for his office. Salaries and benefits during this period cost $1.7 million, including both SCO employees and DOJ employees detailed to the special counsel's office. Travel outlays added up to $223,645, most of which was spent to temporarily relocate DOJ employees detailed to the SCO.
So far, the special counsel's office has indicted Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn has admitted that he lied to the FBI about his contacts with then-Russian envoy Sergey Kislyak. Another foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, George Papadopoulos, has also pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
President Trump tweets often about the investigation and has called it a "taxpayer funded charade."
