Robert Mueller is an American attorney who presently serves as the Special Counsel appointed by the United States Department of Justice to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Previously, President George W. Bush appointed him as the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Former President Barack Obama proposed a two-year extension to his original ten-year term, citing his excellent performance. He received Senate approval and became the FBI director with the longest tenure. He has held the positions of United States Attorney for the Northern District of California and Assistant United States Attorney General for the Criminal Division. He has also served as acting Deputy Attorney General of the United States. After graduating from Princeton University, he promptly enlisted as an officer in the U.S. Navy and fought in the Vietnam War. Exemplary fortitude and courage earned him the Bronze Star with Combat “V” for valor and the Purple Heart. He worked as a private counsel for a few years, but his desire to serve his country kept drawing him back to the public sector.
Youth and Early Life
Robert Swan Mueller III was born in Manhattan, New York City, on August 7, 1944, to Alice C. Truesdale and Robert Swan Mueller Jr. His four younger sisters are named Susan, Sandra, Joan, and Patricia. He is the firstborn sibling. After serving as a naval officer during World War II, his father was employed by DuPont.
Mueller’s upbringing was spent in Princeton, New Jersey. He attended Princeton Country Day School through the eighth grade, after which he moved to Philadelphia with his family. He attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, in his new city. Soon after taking an interest in athletics, he was named captain of the soccer, lacrosse, and hockey teams.
In 1966, he graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in politics. He received his master’s degree in international relations from New York University in 1967. The following year, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer and was awarded the Bronze Star with a ‘V’ for rescuing a wounded Marine.
In addition, he was awarded two Navy Commendation Medals, a Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. After serving in the Navy, he enrolled at the University of Virginia School of Law and was a member of the Virginia Law Review. In 1973, he earned his Juris Doctor degree.
Robert Mueller’s Career
Robert Mueller intended to work for the United States Attorney’s office after graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law, but he was not hired. Therefore, he became a litigator at the San Francisco firm Pillsbury, Madison, and Sutro until 1976. In 1976, he was appointed assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern California District.
He was promoted to head of the criminal division in 1981. The following year, he moved to Boston and began working as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. Here, he worked on a variety of cases involving financial fraud, international money laundering, corruption, drugs, and even terrorism. In 1986, he served as the district’s interim attorney for a year.
Mueller rejoined the U.S. Department of Justice in 1989 as an assistant to Attorney General Dick Thornburgh, following a one-year tenure at the Boston law firm Hill and Barlow. He also served as the interim deputy attorney general. In 1990, Mueller was appointed head of the criminal division. He oversaw the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and the Lockerbie explosion case before establishing a cyber security unit.
In 1990, Mueller was appointed head of the criminal division. He oversaw the prosecution of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and the Lockerbie explosion case before establishing a cyber security unit. In 1993, he became a partner at the law firm Hale and Dorr. The firm specializes in litigation involving white-collar crime.
He returned to public service in 1995, two years later. He entered the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia as a senior litigator in the homicide division. He served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California from 1998 to 2001.
Mueller was nominated for the position of FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) director on July 5, 2001, by the then-president, George W. Bush. George J. Terwilliger III, a lawyer from Washington, and Dan Webb, a prosecutor from Chicago, were also candidates for the same position. Mid-June, however, they both withdrew their nominations and on August 2, 2001, Mueller was appointed FBI director following a unanimous Senate vote in his favor.
On September 4, 2001, just one week before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, he became the sixth FBI director. Robert Mueller decided to reorganize the bureau while holding a significant position during a time of extreme importance. He installed high-tech global operations designed to combat terrorist threats and insisted that the surveillance system be expanded.
In 2011, President Barack Obama recognized his efforts to modernize the FBI and offered to extend his ten-year term by two years. Mueller eagerly accepted the offer, and on July 27, 2011, the Senate approved the request. After concluding his time with the FBI, he began teaching at Stanford. In 2014, he returned to his former firm WilmerHale as a partner and supervised significant cases, including the controversial suspension of NFL player Ray Rice for domestic abuse charges.
Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel on May 17, 2017, to investigate Russia’s potential manipulation of the 2016 presidential election results and any possible ties to President Donald Trump. On October 30, 2017, he filed a series of allegations against Paul Manafort, the chairman of the Trump campaign, and Rick Gates, his associate. Tax fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy against the United States were among the allegations.
George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, later admitted to lying to the FBI about their contacts with the Russians. When investigated on December 1, 2017, former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn acknowledged to having lied to the FBI about conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. In his defense, he stated that he was simply carrying out the instructions of a “very senior member” of the presidential transition team.
The Justice Department announced on February 16, 2018, that Robert Mueller has filed a case of conspiracy to defraud the United States against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for their involvement in the 2016 presidential election manipulation.
According to the charges, the defendants allegedly created false U.S. identities, promoted social media pages, and enticed American audiences to sow discord in the U.S. political system. President Donald Trump chastised Mueller in a tweet on May 20, 2018, that “the World’s most expensive Witch Hunt has found nothing on Russia and me, so they are now investigating the rest of the world!”
Awards & Achievements
In 1962, Robert Mueller received the Gordon Medal as the best athlete at Princeton Country Day School. The United States Military Academy presented Robert Mueller with the Thayer Award for public service in 2016. In June 2017, the non-profit Intelligence and National Security Alliance presented Mueller with the Baker Award for contributions to intelligence and national security.
Personal History and Legacy
Robert Mueller and Ann Cabell Standish first met at a high school gathering. Standish is a graduate of Connecticut’s Miss Porter’s School in Farmington. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, she taught students with learning disabilities in special education.
In September 1966, the couple wed at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. They have two daughters together. In 2000, Mueller was diagnosed with prostate cancer. As a consequence of his treatment for prostate cancer in 2001, his Senate confirmation hearings were delayed.
Estimated Net Worth
He amassed a fortune of $3.5 million as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The politician’s astrological sign is Leo.