Mueller's Russia probe costs over 16 mln dollars

WASHINGTON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into alleged Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election has cost more than 16 million dollars during its first year, according to the latest spending tally released by the Justice Department on Thursday.

The data, compiled by Mueller's office, showed that 10 million dollars were spent from Oct. 1 to March 31. Mueller's direct spending during the time period was about 4.5 million dollars.

The Justice Department previously reported that about 6.7 million dollars were spent from the time Mueller was appointed special counsel in May 2017 to the end of September, according to a Bloomberg report.

The majority of funds spent by Mueller in the latest period, about 2.7 million dollars, went for personnel, with the rest going to travel, office space and contracting services, the Justice Department said.

The Justice Department has budgeted 10 million dollars for Mueller to spend in fiscal 2019, which begins on Oct. 1. Enditem