OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
When Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned a special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden over their possession of classified documents, critics at the time doubted that the probe into Biden would amount to much.
Now, according to new financial disclosures, they are likely to believe they were right.
“The Department of Justice and special counsel Jack Smith have spent over $9 million of taxpayer dollars in just fourth months investigating former President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and on a January 6-related investigation into the former president,” The Daily Wire reported.
“The amount spent by the DOJ and Smith dwarfs the amount reportedly spent by special counsel Robert Hur and DOJ agencies on investigating President Joe Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, a number that is closer to $1.2 million,” the report added.
From November 18, 2022, to March 31, 2023, Smith spent approximately $5.5 million, whereas other agencies within the DOJ contributed around $3.8 million to support the investigation. Regarding the Biden documents case, Hur disbursed roughly $615,962 from January 12 to March 31, 2023, while other DOJ agencies collectively contributed approximately $572,185.
For comparison, special counsel John Durham’s roughly two-and-a-half-year probe into the ‘Trump-Russia collusion’ hoax cost around $7.6 million.
In a Friday post, Trump blasted and insulted Smith over the investigation.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the wacko prosecutor that Corrupt Joe Biden and his Thugs stuck on me during the political campaign in which Biden is losing ‘BIG’ (an absolute No, No!), just announced that he has spent over 9 million dollars, already, on this continuing Witch Hunt. Biden’s Special Prosecutor, by comparison, has spent almost nothing. Prosecutorial Misconduct for purposes of Election Interference!” Trump wrote.
Trump and his legal team have consistently maintained that the probe being conducted by Smith is just a political witch hunt, and the glaring difference in special counsel expenditures between the Trump and Biden probes would seem to support that, especially given that Biden, as a senator and vice president, never had any legal authority to declassify anything.
“I will say that Jack Smith, I think, absolutely wants to rain hellfire down on this president and his supporters – not just people in his orbit, but also his supporters. And he’s going to stop at nothing,” Trump lawyer Jesse Binnall told Just the News on Thursday. “This is not a good guy … Unfortunately, the people that he tends to work with are zealots.”
The Daily Wire added: “Hur was appointed to investigate Biden after several batches of classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., and in a garage in his home in Wilmington, Delaware.”
After Trump was indicted by Smith last month on charges related to his handling of classified documents, a number of legal analysts predicted that his team would attempt to push back the start date for the trial as long as possible, maybe even beyond the 2024 election.
But Trump’s team didn’t request the first delay; it has been made by the man who indicted him.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, initially set a court date of Aug. 14, but according to a filing by Smith, he wants that pushed back to Dec. 11, The Epoch Times reported.
“The request asks for the trial to be delayed by four months because there is classified information involved. To handle this information, Trump’s lawyers need to get security clearances, and that process takes time,” the outlet noted.
“Interim security clearances are currently being processed and should be granted within 48 hours after Trump’s lawyers submit the required forms. However, obtaining the final clearance to access a few specific classified documents may take anywhere from 45 to 60 days,” the report continued.
