Larry Johnson does the math, so I don’t have to. Fitzgerald’s total costs to investigate the deliberate outing of a CIA spy, through March 31, amount to $2,396,283. Ken Starr’s total costs, to investigate a failed land deal and a blow job, amount to $59,463,703. I guess all those cocktail weenies Starr bought for the press really add up, huh?
Now that Larry pulled all these numbers together, though, I’d like to take a look at what Fitzgerald spent when–or rather, how much time he spent when. Here’s the total spent on personnel for each reporting period (click through to Larry’s post for the total amounts–I’m using personnel to get a sense of how much time these activities took). The total amount for all personnel time reported to date is $1,876,570.
|
PeriodEnding |
Amount | Activities |
| 3/31/2004 | $13,330 | Review FBI case
Grand jury interviews of most witnesses, including Rove, Libby, Novak |
| 9/30/04 | $487,098 | Pursue and obtain testimony from Russert, Kessler, Cooper (pertaining to Libby), and Pincus
Pursue testimony from Cooper (pertaining to Rove) and Miller Follow-up interviews with Armitage and Novak |
| 3/31/05 | $48,536 | Argue before Appeals Court to justify Cooper and Miller subpoenas |
| 9/30/05 | $169,383 | Obtain testimony from Cooper and (the first appearance) Miller. |
| 3/31/06 | $297,188 | Obtain testimony from Miller (the second appearance)
Last minute pre-indictment frenzy Indict Libby Interview Viveca Novak, Woodward Begin discovery phase |
| 9/30/06 | $268,198 | Continue discovery
Begin CIPA process Give Armitage and Rove all (or mostly) clear |
| 3/31/07 | $592,837 | Complete CIPA and other pre-trial activities
Argue trial |
Now, I’m assuming that some of the costs associated with the initial grand jury testimony of everyone and their mother in February and March 2004 was cleared after March 31, and therefore shows up in the 9/30/04 report. And that therefore that figure for the 9/30/04 period–higher than any period save the actual trial period–includes activities that took place earlier. Let’s just say half that cost reflects February and March grand jury interviews. That still means roughly half a million dollars in personnel costs–well over a quarter of all total personnel costs–was spent obtaining the testimony of primary journalist witnesses. (Though note: given the logic that it may take more than a month for charges to clear, there will probably be significant charges reported in the period ending 9/30/07.)
I’m sure people will use that factoid in a variety of ways, both to criticize and celebrate Fitzgerald. But the next time some media outlet talks about the expensive Fitzgerald investigation, you might point out that it was expensive largely because of the media outlets.