Jack Smith’s federal Trump cases cost taxpayers more than $50 million

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations into Donald Trump over the last two years – which he opted to dismiss this week – have likely cost U.S. taxpayers more than $50 million, according to Department of Justice expenditure reports.

Financial disclosures from the Special Counsel’s Office show that from mid-November 2022, when Smith was appointed special counsel, until March 31, 2023, his office incurred costs of about $9.25 million. A second disclosure laying out the office’s expenditures for the following six months showed the office’s spending increased to roughly $14.66 million. Meanwhile, a third expenditure report, the latest available, showed that from Oct. 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, Smith’s office spent roughly $11.84 million.

These costs include both direct and indirect expenses, the latter of which is provided through various Department of Justice agencies.

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Expenditure figures for the months between April 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2024, have yet to be released, but the average of the three reported periods is roughly $12 million. 

When that estimate is added to the numbers from the three reporting periods that have been publicly reported, the amount spent by Smith’s office since he was appointed rounds to about $47.5 million.

However, this estimate does not include any expenditures from Sept. 30 to date, so the total money spent is likely more than $50 million, Newsweek reported earlier this month. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022 to oversee the federal investigation into Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election, and his improper handling of sensitive classified documents.

After an exhaustive, nearly two-year investigation, and other cases that saw Trump surrendering to authorities for a mugshot, Smith filed motions on Monday to dismiss the cases against the former president, citing procedural standards that preclude the prosecution of a sitting president.

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Jack Smith speaks during a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The judge overseeing the election interference case agreed to drop the charges, while a decision on the classified…