Special counsel Jack Smith spent more than $7 million over a six-month period last year as he indicted and prepared to prosecute former president Donald Trump, bringing the total cost of Smith's work to date to over $12 million, according to Justice Department figures released Friday.

Smith was appointed in November 2022 to serve as special counsel - a powerful but temporary job as a prosecutor with more autonomy than other parts of the Justice Department. The bulk of his expenses are for paying the salaries of the people who work for him.

The expense accounting released by the department Friday said other parts of the Justice Department provided support and resources to Smith's office worth an additional $7.3 million during the same six-month time period.

The spending period covers April through September of last year. During that time, Smith sought and received two grand jury indictments against Trump - one in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home, and a second in Washington, D.C., for allegedly conspiring to obstruct the results of the 2020 election.

In total, Justice Department officials released spending documents Friday for four different special counsels - three of whom are still operating.

Special counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed last January to investigate whether President Biden mishandled classified materials stemming from his time as vice president and senator, spent more than $2.8 million between April and September 2023. About half of that, $1.4 million, went to paying salaries.

In Hur's office, nearly $800,000 was paid for rent and other operational costs over that time. An additional $182,000 covered travel expenses. Combined with a prior spending report showing that Hur spent about $616,000 between January and March 2023, Hur's investigation has cost taxpayers nearly $3.5 million.

Last August, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed the Delaware U.S. attorney, David Weiss, to serve as special counsel handling the investigation and prosecution of President Biden's son Hunter.

As U.S. attorney, Weiss nearly struck a plea deal in the case before he became special counsel, but the deal fell apart over questions about whether it would protect Hunter Biden from future prosecution related to his finances.

In the few months covered by Weiss's spending report, he spent relatively little, possibly because so much of the investigative work in the Hunter Biden case had already been done. The Justice Department said Weiss's office spent $182,683. Separately, other Justice Department offices spent $132,098.

After Weiss's appointment as special counsel, he sought and filed two indictments against Hunter Biden - one in Delaware for alleged illegal gun possession, and another in Los Angeles for alleged tax crimes. Hunter Biden is scheduled to be arraigned on the tax case next week.

Officials also filed what may be the final spending records from a different special counsel, John Durham. During the Trump administration, Durham was tapped to examine the FBI's investigation of Trump and 2016 election interference by Russia. Durham and his team finished their investigation and delivered a report of their findings in May, concluding that FBI agents' personal biases prevented them from rigorously examining the evidence in the Russia probe.

The expense report released Friday shows Durham spent nearly $550,000 between April 2023 and September 2023 as he was shutting down operations. Most of that went to contractual services, including IT and litigation support. In all, Durham's probe has cost taxpayers more than $8 million since he was formally appointed a special counsel in 2020.

Durham indicted two individuals, who were both acquitted at trial. A third man, a former FBI lawyer, pleaded guilty to making a false statement by altering an email.