The Justice Department is projecting that special counsels will spend $4 million in the next fiscal year —a small fraction of the $29 million they are expected to rack up in the year ending in September. The new estimates — contained in President Biden’s budget sent to Congress on Monday — come as special counsels handling criminal cases against former President Trump and Hunter Biden are gearing up for as many as four trials in the coming months. It is unclear how DOJ arrived at its estimate given the deep uncertainty about when and whether two complex Trump cases, both being handled by special counsel Jack Smith, will go before a jury, Politico reports. “The $4 million figure is merely a placeholder for purposes of the FY 25 budget,” Justice Department spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle said.
Smith’s case against Trump in Florida over his alleged hoarding of classified information at his Mar-a-Lago estate is scheduled for May 20, but is virtually certain to be postponed. Smith’s other case against Trump, charging him with conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, was set for trial this month in Washington, but was put on hold during Trump’s appeal claiming he’s immune from prosecution over acts arguably related to his role as president. That issue is set to be argued before the Supreme Court next month, with any trial in that case looking unlikely to start before late summer. Special counsel David Weiss is preparing for trials in two criminal cases against President Joe Biden’s son Hunter: a case in Delaware charging him with gun-related offenses and another in Los Angeles charging him with failing to pay his taxes for years. No trial date has been set in the Delaware case, while the case in California is set for June 20.