Taxpayers foot bill for $23M in DOJ investigations into Trump, $6.4M Biden probe

The Department of Justice has spent more than three times the amount investigating alleged wrongdoings by former President Donald Trump than it has to probe President Biden’s classified documents case.

The two investigations conducted by Special Counsel Jack Smith into Trump have cost taxpayers upwards of $23 million, while the DOJ’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents has cost taxpayers roughly $6.4 million – a combined total of nearly $30 million.

The figures were revealed Friday in expenditure reports by the DOJ and reflect spending totals by both special counsels from the beginning of April 2023 through the end of September 2023. The totals also included costs sustained by other DOJ agencies related to the investigations.

The expenditure report for Smith’s investigations into Trump revealed that the DOJ had spent approximately $7.3 million on things like compensation and benefits for certain personnel, travel, supplies, rent and additional services.

As for other DOJ agencies that incurred expenses while assisting Smith’s investigations into the former president, the total came out to around $7.2 million. That total stemmed from the use of additional investigative support analysts from other agencies and a security detail for the special counsel ‘when warranted,’ according to the report.

Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November 2022 to investigate Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and his alleged efforts to interfere with the 2020 election.

The initial expenditure report from the special counsel – which covered mid-November 2022 through the end of March 2023 – revealed that Smith and other agencies within the DOJ had used $9 million in taxpayer dollars to investigate Trump. That total, combined with the total shown in the Friday report, puts the total cost the DOJ has spent investigating the former president at more than $23 million.

Trump pleaded not guilty in federal court to all four federal charges stemming from Smith’s investigation into 2020 election interference and the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

Smith also indicted Trump on charges relating to the mishandling of classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony charges out of that probe.

In contrast to the DOJ’s extreme cost of the Trump investigations, another DOJ report released Friday showed that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s classified documents case cost taxpayers $2.8 million from the beginning of April 2023 to the end of September 2023.

Other DOJ agencies that supported the Biden probe during the same time period incurred costs of $2.4 million – bringing the total spent on the Biden investigation from April 2023 to September 2023 to $5.2 million.

The initial report from Hur’s investigation showed that the Department of Justice spent roughly $1.2 million between mid-January 2023 and the end of March 2023. That total, combined with totals revealed Friday, brings the DOJ’s total cost for the Biden probe overall to $6.4 million.

Hur, a former U.S. attorney, was appointed last January by Garland to lead the investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents dating back to the Obama administration. Last fall, Biden took part in a voluntary interview with Hur about the matter.

The probe stems from a batch of records from President Biden’s time as vice president, including a ‘small number of documents with classified markings,’ that were discovered at the Penn Biden Center by the president’s personal attorneys on November 2, 2022.

The documents were found in a locked closet while preparing to vacate office space at the center, which the president used from mid-2017 until he began the 2020 campaign.

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.