American Politics Journal -- Abuse of Power: The Dollars-and-Cents Cost

Abuse of Power: The Dollars-and-Cents Cost
by Jeff Koopersmith

Tuesday, April 1st, 1997 -- NEW YORK (APJP) -- According to the GAO, the Whitewater investigation has cost American taxpayers nearly $30 million since it began in 1994.

So far, the big "payoff" has been the conviction of former Arkansas governor Jim Guy Tucker and the McDouglas, former business partners of President Clinton.

Another trial prosecuted by "Mailbu Ken" Starr was a total loss.

The Whitewater investigation continues to rack up bills -- at a rate of nearly $1 million a month. According to the GAO, the latest reporting period ending September 1996 showed $5 million in expenses for Whitewater alone.

But Whitewater isn't the only taxpayer expense driven by political forces. The GAO report on investigative expenses includes an additional $1.1 million spent by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service --$979,318 and $75,685, respectively.

Three more "independent counsels" investigating former Clinton Administration officials had $5.3 million in expenses in the same period -- six-months -- including:

$2.8 million to investigate former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy for possibly accepting gifts from food industry officials.
$1.3 million for to investigate the financial dealings of former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who died in a plane crash last year.
$1.2 million to investigate Henry Cisneros, the former HUD secretary, for allegedly lying to the FBI about payments to a former mistress.

And guess what? One investigation actually closed its doors.

This one had to do with the State Department's search of President Clinton's passport file during the 1992 presidential campaign and had only $111,754 in expenditures. It figures that this one would close for business -- it was too cheap!

According to the Associated Press, "Auditors said Starr's office had $3.9 million in expenditures, including nearly $1.3 million in salaries and benefits and $1.6 million in travel costs. Much of the travel spending was for FBI personnel."

If you add them up, the total is more than $40 million.

Now remember, the other side is also spending to keep abreast of these prosecutorial efforts. So perhaps as much as $80 million has been spent on these independent investigations in less than 4 years.

$80 million. It boggles the mind.