President Donald Trump kicked off Friday tweeting with a scathing rebuke of the $17 million spent by the government so far on the "Russian hoax investigation."
The president was reacting to a Thursday report released by the special counsel's office that showed spending in the first year of about $17 million.
The DOJ report showed costs of $10 million between October and March, on top of the $6.7 million spent on the probe the previous four months.
The Justice Department said a large portion of the costs, about $9 million, would have been spent regardless of the special counsel's appointment.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's office said its spending was "within the approved budget."
The Justice Department reportedly has budgeted $10 million for Mueller’s team to spend in the next fiscal year, beginning in October.