Mueller’s Russia probe costing taxpayers close to $17M
The meter is running on special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. election.
The Mueller probe is ticking off a hefty bill costing taxpayers nearly $17 million with no indication of an end in sight.
“I hesitated to say that $17 million is chicken feed in Washington, but in terms of the government it actually kind of is,” Fox News contributor Byron York said during an interview on FOX Business’ “After the Bell” program on Friday.
The investigation into Russia meddling in the U.S. election has raked in nearly $10 million in expenses from October 2017 through March 2018, according to a count released by the Justice Department.
In addition, $6.7 million was spent in the first five months when Mueller was appointed as special counsel back in May 2017.
York said a greater cost is how much time is taken away from the executive branch of the government.
“One of the defenses that Rudy Giuliani has been talking about with the president himself is that complying with the Mueller investigation would take an enormous amount of the president’s time,” he said.
Although White House officials have called for the probe to wrap up soon, Trump’s new budget projects that the special counsel will continue to be in business in fiscal-year 2019.