“We’ll never know the full extent,” Cole told reporters Thursday. “I mean there is a dollar damage we have an estimate there could be more.”

Cole said that the cost of the investigation was roughly $400,000 less than he had originally anticipated and likely will be topping out at between $500,000 and $600,000. He also took at subtle shot at his predecessors at NRCC, saying that many of the improvements -- such as beefing up the accounting division of the campaign committee -- were long overdue improvements.

“I told somebody it’s a little bit like buying a 30-year-old house and then having to put in new plumbing, new floor, new roof, that sort of thing then have to sell it,” Cole said. “You know that’s just the reality of it. Those bills fell due on my watch, but they are wise investments and they are investments that I’m pleased we’ve made.”

The accounting recommendation was one of several made by Covington and Burling who ran the internal investigation for the NRCC. It concluded that Republicans should hire a chief financial officer expand, formalize their accounting practices and put in place increased oversight over procedures that relate to the NRCC banking statements and books.

On Jan. 28, the NRCC discovered that no 2006 audit was conducted. By March, the committee learned that their former treasurer Christopher J. Ward allegedly fabricated audits since 2002. Ward was hired at the NRCC in 1995 and became treasurer in 2003. He left the committee in 2007 but remained on as a consultant.

Robert Kelner, a partner at Covington & Burling who is outside legal counsel for the NRCC, said that an additional audit of the 2007 books would have to be done before they could apply for loans for the 2008 election cycle.

Cole said he was confident the audit would be completed before the November election and that the committee would be eligible for future loans.

“Since 2001, it appears that Chris Ward, the former treasurer caused a loss to the NRCC of approximately $725,000,” Kelner said.

Kelner back away from a much larger figure in March which placed the estimated loss at nearly $1 million.

“I tried to caution the media at the time....not to focus too much on the $1 million figure,” he said. “The $725,000 is PricewaterhouseCoopers' best estimate of what the loss was going back as far as we can in the records which is 2001.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the audit for the NRCC. 

A report issued to reporters by Covington and Burling LLP noted investigators did not have access to Ward’s accounts.

He explained that they believe Ward was funneling the money from three areas into his personnel and business accounts: the congressional president’s Dinner committees,  from the NRCC to other political committees and from other president's dinner committees, where the funds  were divided between the NRCC and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

Kelner estimated the loss to the NRSC to be “about $28,000.”

He declined to reveal some details about the financial irregularities, citing the ongoing federal probe.

Kelner credited two staff members, Jeff Burton, chief of staff to Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), and Pete Kirkham, the executive director for the NRCC, for keeping the pressure on Ward to produce an audit.

Ward later allegedly admitted to falsifying the audits.

“To some extent both Jeff and Pete are unsung heroes here. They both pursued Ward on this issue and by pursuing him, I think ultimately surfaced the fraud,” Kelner said.

Ward's attorney could not be reached for comment