The FBI alone has spent over $20 million investigating Hillary, and this does not include Justice and State Department costs.

In early August 2015, inspectors general asked the Justice Department to investigate Hillary's private email server.  Since that time, dozens of FBI agents and untold numbers of Justice and State Departments and other agency employees have spent millions to conduct the investigation.  To get an idea of the magnitude of the cost, we need some data.

The FBI budget for FY 2016 is about $8.5 billion, and the number of authorized special agents is 13,074.  The number of agents involved in the investigation is not known, but there is a report that it is dozens but less than 50, so let's assume 40 agents.  From the start of the inquiry around August 1, 2015 until today, there are 290 days.  Dividing the FBI budget by the number of agents gives an annual cost per agent of  $653,400.  Dividing by 366 days (leap year) and multiplying by 40 agents times 290 days gives $20,708,000 total FBI cost.  There are also millions more in costs from other agencies.

The investigation may continue for some time, since there are some reports that the focus is on emails in this phase, which may be wrapping up soon.  However, there may be an even longer investigation into Bill's paid speeches and the tangled Clinton Foundation finances involving some questionable dealings.  The final tab will be much higher.  If it moves to a prosecution phase, the high-priced Justice Department lawyers will get involved as well.

There is also the unknown cost of these FBI agents pulled off other cases and those perpetrators going unpunished as a result.  Given the nature of the probe into possible national security implications, the FBI agents on the Clinton case might have been pursuing other national security cases, with unknown damage to our country as a result.

The earlier investigations when Bill was president also ran into millions of dollars for us taxpayers.  It feels like déjà vu all over again.