The special counsel leading the federal investigation into former President Trump’s alleged mishandling of sensitive documents has incurred expenses totaling nearly $5.5 million within the initial four months of the probe.

The statement of expenditures from November 2022 to the end of March 2023, released by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office on Friday, provides insight into how taxpayer funds are being utilized in the investigation. Smith has also been assigned as the lead investigator for the Department of Justice’s inquiry into the January 6 riots, Fox News has reported.

According to the disclosure, Smith has spent a total of $5,428,579 on the investigations, with over $1.8 million allocated to “contractual services.” In comparison, Special Counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed this year to investigate President Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents from his tenure as vice president, has spent $615,962.

Furthermore, since 2020, Special Counsel John Durham, who has been investigating Russian interference in U.S. elections, has reported total expenditures of $7,683,839. This indicates that within four months, Smith has spent over 70 percent of the total cost of Durham’s investigation, which has been ongoing for two and a half years.

The breakdown of Smith’s total expenditure of $1,881,926 reveals that $1,674,947 was allocated to “litigation/investigative support,” $143,493 was spent on “IT services,” $63,151 was dedicated to “transcripts,” and $335 was used for “other services.”

Additionally, personnel compensation and benefits accounted for over $2.6 million of the expenditure, while $456,808 was utilized for “rent, communications, and utilities.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Justice informed Fox News Digital that Smith inherited two separate investigations that were already in progress and that the majority of the support funds are being allocated towards litigation and staff expenses for these two investigations.

Written by staff