From Watergate to Whitewater: History of the independent counsel Act has a 21-year tradition of controversy. Follow her on Twitter @Smartypants60.© 2020 Washington Monthly.But it’s worth taking a minute to put that dollar figure in perspective. The Watergate investigation cost $26 million. Nixon announces that John Dean has completed an internal investigation into the Watergate break-in, and has found no evidence of White House involvement. The cost of the Watergate special investigation during Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford’s administrations was $47,094,590.10 (adjusted for inflation) over 1,464 days for $32,168.44 per day. It’s worth noting some milestones in the Watergate investigation for comparison. has just reported that the Russian Hoax Investigation has now cost our government over $17 million, and going up fast. The Watergate scandal was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The biggest spenders:If you check the "Remember me" box, you will be automatically signed in for 30 days to TIME.com when you visit in the future. The Watergate investigation cost $26 million. Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.“Given the many discussions and theories about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion among Donald Trump, his campaign and Russia in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the A-Mark Foundation commissioned this report on such special investigations involving presidents and their administrations starting with President Richard Nixon in 1973 in part to see how the current Trump investigation compares to past presidential investigations.For media interviews with Mr. Markoff, please contact scmarkoff(at)aol(dot)com.Some of those critics and defenders are referenced here in chronological order:The ongoing special investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election process so far has cost $6,759,695 over 137 days of Department of Justice expenditure reporting from May 17, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2017. Virus numbers by state Wear this to be safe + = Reopening dates for world spot SUBSCRIBE NOW As long as there was such a base, I felt strongly that it was necessary to see the constitutional process through to its conclusion, that to do otherwise would be unfaithful to the spirit of that deliberately difficult process and a dangerously destabilizing precedent for the future. In the past few days, however, it has become evident to me that I no longer have a strong enough political base in the Congress to justify continuing that effort.