Mueller probe spending tops $17 million
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN 05/31/2018 05:27 PM EDT Updated 05/31/2018 05:47 PM EDT
The Justice Department has spent more than $17 million on its Russia investigation since special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment last May, according to a government report released Thursday.
The latest DOJ totals reflect $10 million spent from October until March — a particularly productive period for Mueller. During that times, Mueller netted five guilty pleas and 17 indictments of people and companies as part of his examination of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election, and whether the Kremlin coordinated its efforts with the Trump campaign.
Mueller’s office in a statement said its spending was “within the approved budget,” though it’s still likely to draw complaints from President Donald Trump and his allies who have already found fault with the open-ended nature of the special counsel’s fiscal setup. The president has long labeled the investigation a "witch hunt" that has strayed far from its original mandate.
In mid-May, Trump targeted Mueller over spending, though the dollar figure he used didn’t reflect what was public at the time.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/31/mueller-russia-probe-cost-spending-616112
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