Yes, it’s the day after the Mueller report was finally released to the public. While about a third of it was redacted, the results will probably feed your bias. If you thought President Trump was guilty before, you probably still feel that way. Of course, if you thought he was innocent before, you feel as if he has been exonerated.
Still, this website is called Financial Helpers. We’re not here to tell you how to interpret the report (nor will we take sides). Instead, let’s talk about how much the Mueller report cost taxpayers. It’s been a major concern on whether this report was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Whether it was a waste of money, again, depends on your bias.
“It’s a shame our country had to go through this,” Trump said back in March. He’s long since called the Mueller report a ‘witch hunt’, a ‘hoax’, and an ‘illegal takedown that failed.’ Again, whether those are true are for you to discern. But if it was indeed a hoax, how much did it cost? Inquiring financial minds want to know!
The Cost of the Mueller Report
Trump tweeted that Mueller and his team of “angry Democrats” wasted $40 million. That figure appears to be a vast exaggeration according to Politifact. Back in September of 2018, Mueller filed an expense report that showed the investigation had cost around $25 million. If that rate of spending remained true until this day, then we can assume that he spent around $32 million.
This is much less money than previous investigations have cost. $104 million was spent collectively between the Reagan Iran-Contra and Clinton investigations. Therefore, one can conclude that this investigation, while expensive to the common man, wasn’t a money pit. There are other factors to consider.
Charges and Fines
One of those factors are the fines levied throughout the Mueller report investigation. Is it possible that this investigation, when all is said and done, will result in a net profit? That could very well happen. When you take a good look at all the fines and seizures, the investigation made more money than it lost. Charges and Fines
Overall, 37 people and entities found themselves under the weight of the Mueller report. These are names you’ve probably heard in the news over the past several years. Guys like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and even Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. They were all fined substantial amounts of money.
While it’s unknown exactly how much money the Mueller report brought in, it’s easy to count the reported settlements. The total sum of the settlements appears to be around $28.6 million. That certainly makes up the bulk of what the report cost overall. There are still other factors to consider.
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Paul Manafort was perhaps hit the hardest in all of this. Not only did he get prison time, but he had to forfeit a lot of New York real estate. The estimated worth of his holdings could total $46 million alone when resold.
So, while the contents of the Mueller report are to be interpreted by the people, the cost certainly isn’t. You can’t ignore the numbers. Whether the report was worth our time and energy are debatable, but it wasn’t a waste of money.
