Robert S. Mueller III, 81, Dies; Rebuilt F.B.I. and Led Trump Inquiry

Source: New York Times

Robert S. Mueller III, who led the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 12 tumultuous years, brought politically explosive indictments as a special counsel examining Russia’s attack on the 2016 presidential election, and then concluded that he could neither absolve nor accuse President Donald J. Trump of a crime, died on Friday. He was 81.

His family confirmed the death in a statement, but did not specify a location or cause.

A button-down, lockjawed, rock-ribbed exemplar of a vanishing caste, the liberal Republican, Mr. Mueller became the F.B.I. director just a week before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He went on to impose the most significant structural and cultural changes in the history of the F.B.I., seeking to transform the bureau into a 21st-century intelligence service that could protect both national security and civil liberties. And his counterterrorism agents were the first to blow the whistle on abuses at the secret prisons that the C.I.A. had established after 9/11 to detain, interrogate and, in some cases, torture terrorism suspects.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/us/politics/robert-s-mueller-dead.html