Mueller probe cost roughly $8 million in first year

Special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe has cost just under $8 million in its first year. (Andrew Harnik / AP)

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling has cost just under $8 million since the former FBI director was appointed last May, according to a new spending report released Thursday.

The bill is a far cry from the $20 million President Trump claims that probe has cost and is only slightly higher than Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt’s $3 million annual security cost.

The Department of Justice’s expenditure report shows Mueller’s team has racked up $4.5 million in costs from Oct. 1, 2017, through March 31, 2018.

That’s on top of $3.2 million that was spent from May through September last year. Another $8.9 million has been spent by the DOJ in support costs that would have been on the books regardless of Mueller’s appointment.

Of the $4.5 million in the latest report, the biggest category was $2.7 million for staff salaries and benefits, while the second-largest was for equipment. Smaller expenditures included travel, rent, utilities and supplies.

Mueller was appointed roughly one year ago to take over the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and any links between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the probe, often calling it a “witch hunt” and claiming that it has cost taxpayers $20 million. Despite the President’s protestations, Mueller’s team has gotten results.

The probe has already led to 75 criminal charges, five guilty pleas, and one person has already been sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators.

Three of the five people who accepted pleas had direct connections to Trump, including his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump, who has long dismissed the investigation as a waste of time and money, directly questioned the cost of the probe last week.

“At what point does this soon to be $20,000,000 Witch Hunt, composed of 13 Angry and Heavily Conflicted Democrats and two people who have worked for Obama for 8 years, STOP!” he tweeted.