Robert Mueller, the reportedly “no-nonsense” former FBI chief who became special counsel in charge of investigating ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, died on Saturday. He was 81 years old.
He was also a decorated Vietnam War veteran who led the FBI after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
In 2025, a report by The New York Times mentioned that Mueller had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
His death was reported Saturday by MS NOW and a New York Times journalist who published a statement attributed to the Mueller family.
Robert Mueller cause of death
No cause of Mueller’s death has been given, Reuters reported.
The head of the FBI who stayed here at Obama’s request
Robert Mueller was the second longest serving director in FBI history – only J. Edgar Hoover. Mueller served until 2013 after agreeing to former US President Barack Obama’s request to stay on after his 10-year term, the AP report said.
He retired in 2013, but four years later was recalled to public service by a senior Justice Department official as special counsel to take over the investigation into Russian election meddling after Trump fired then-FBI chief James Comey.
Explore the relationship between Russia and Trump
Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation — released in 2019 — detailed what he and U.S. intelligence agencies described as a coordinated Russian campaign involving hacking and propaganda.
The effort, they said, was aimed at sowing division in the US, undermining Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and supporting Donald Trump, who is seen as Moscow’s preferred candidate, a Reuters report said.
However, Russia has denied any interference in the election campaign.
“First, our investigation found that the Russian government interfered in our election in a pervasive and systematic manner,” Mueller said during congressional testimony in 2019.
“Second, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government in its election interference activities. We did not address ‘collusion,’ which is not a legal term. Rather, we focused on whether the evidence was sufficient to charge any member of the campaign with criminal conspiracy. There was not,” Mueller added.
How did Trump respond?
Trump celebrated Mueller’s departure on Saturday. “Well, I’m glad he’s dead,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social website. “He can’t hurt innocent people anymore!”
