Robert Mueller, the FBI director who served as special counsel in the investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, has died, according to a statement released by his family members.
“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday, the statement said, according to The Associated Press. “His family asks that their privacy be respected.”
The family did not say what caused 81-year-old Mueller’s death.
Mueller started the position just one week before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He would go on to become the second-longest-serving director in FBI history, after J.Edgar Hoover.
Once he left the FBI, Mueller spent several years in private practice before being asked by then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to be special counsel in the Trump-Russia probe.
That investigation, which the president branded a “witch hunt,” ended with charges against 34 people and three companies. While the 448-page document released in April 2019, commonly called the “Mueller report,” indicated there was contact between the Trump campaign and Russia, it did not allege the president committed a crime. However, Mueller said the report also did not necessarily “exonerate” the president, either.
“If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment,” Mueller said in the report.
Responding to the news of Mueller’s death on Truth Social, Trump said: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”
“He can no longer hurt innocent people!” Trump wrote.
This story is developing and will be updated.