The report also highlights the unusual nature of Smith’s investigations and the strong reactions they have generated. The $3.8 million figure includes the cost of security details for the special prosecutor, who has been seen flanked by agents as he commutes to and from his Washington office.
The various probes Smith is overseeing were well underway by the time he took over and he has largely maintained the existing staffing, although he added some prosecutors in recent months. The new report doesn’t indicate how much the Justice Department spent on the related investigations in the months before Smith, a former head of DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, agreed to leave his job as a war-crimes prosecutor in Europe and return to Washington to take over the politically sensitive Trump probes.
Still, even the early snapshot of Smith’s activity suggests an intense and active investigation that has been seen in glimpses at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where a parade of witnesses — including former Vice President Mike Pence — have appeared before the grand jury.
By contrast, a special counsel appointed in January to look into President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents discovered in his Delaware home spent $615,000 through March and led other parts of DOJ to incur about $572,000 in expenses, another report out Friday indicates. However, Special Counsel Robert Hur didn’t officially assume his post until January, providing a limited window into his initial activity before the semi-annual spending reports.
A third special counsel, John Durham, spent $1.1 million in the six months preceding March 31 as he wrapped up his report on the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe that loomed over Trump’s administration for much of his term. As Durham’s probe wound down, DOJ incurred few expenses for his probe during that period, totaling only about $59,000.
Durham delivered his final report in May after largely unsuccessful courtroom efforts to pursue criminal cases related to the probe.
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