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Robert Mueller, who led the Federal Bureau of Investigation for more than a decade after the September 11 attacks and was later appointed special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election, has died. He was 81 years old.
Mueller’s family, who confirmed the news to The New York Times, did not give a cause of death. Last year, the family announced that Mueller had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2021.
Mueller was appointed special counsel after President Donald Trump abruptly fired then-FBI Director James Comey in 2017.
From FBI chief to special investigator
Trump initially considered reappointing Mueller as FBI director after his surprising election victory in 2016. However, that was not possible because Mueller had already exhausted his term limits. In 2017, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller to lead the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation. He met with the Russian ambassador several times during the election campaign.
The appointment was initially welcomed across party lines. Mueller, a staunch Republican, was considered ideal for a sensitive investigation into the campaign activities of a sitting president. The investigation lasted almost two years.
The investigators’ final report, published in March 2019, found that the “Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a comprehensive and systematic manner” to the benefit of the Trump camp and to the detriment of the candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Mueller concluded that the Trump campaign expected to benefit from hacking attacks on Democratic organizations and other Russian influence attempts. “However, the investigation has not established that members of the Trump campaign colluded or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference.”
No acquittal, no guilty verdict
On the question of whether the Trump administration was guilty of obstruction of justice – the subject of the second half of the report – Mueller’s team sharply criticized the president’s behavior. The most succinct formulation: “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it does not exonerate him either.”
Although the overall conclusions of the report largely cleared the campaign of criminal wrongdoing, 34 people were charged as a result of the investigation. There were also seven US citizens – the majority of whom were close confidants of the Trump campaign team. Particularly sensational were the indictments against retired General Michael Flynn, political mastermind Roger Stone, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort. The allegations ranged from making false statements to investigators and lawmakers to witness tampering and conspiracy against the United States.
The investigation and resulting charges became a hot topic for Trump and the MAGA movement. Mueller and the federal investigators were accused of carrying out a “witch hunt” and a “deep state” plot against his government. Trump repeatedly attacked Mueller in the years following the investigation, portraying the Republican Purple Heart winner as a corrupt agent of a Democratic conspiracy. The president was openly pleased about Mueller’s death. He wrote on Truth Social: “Good thing, I’m glad he’s dead.”
War, law and career
Mueller was born in New York City, the son of a DuPont executive. He studied at Princeton and earned a master’s degree in international relations at New York University. He then joined the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. There he was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart. After returning from Vietnam, Mueller pursued a legal career. He worked as a federal prosecutor and briefly in a law firm. He then moved to the Ministry of Justice, where he rose to head of the criminal justice department. In that role, he oversaw the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and led the investigation into the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
In September 2001, a week before the September 11 attacks, Mueller was appointed FBI director. During his 12 years in office, the FBI uncovered the existence of secret CIA prisons used to torture detainees and the NSA’s illegal wiretapping program without judicial authorization. Mueller famously threatened to resign after President George W. Bush reauthorized the illegal surveillance program. Bush eventually relented and put the program on hold rather than accept the resignation. This episode became part of Mueller’s legend and was seen as evidence of his impeccable character – even when he was appointed to investigate Trump.
