Robert Mueller, who led the FBI for 12 years and later served as special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, has died at age 81, his family said Saturday.

“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away” on Friday night, the family said in a statement, adding that they ask for privacy.

Mueller, a longtime public servant, became a polarizing figure during the probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. His report did not exonerate the president. After Mueller’s death, Trump wrote on his social media platform: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”

Former presidents offered more measured responses. Barack Obama, whose presidency overlapped five years with Mueller’s tenure as FBI director, called him “one of the finest directors in the history of the FBI” and praised his dedication to the rule of law. Republican George W. Bush, who first nominated Mueller to lead the bureau, said he was “deeply saddened” and lauded Mueller’s lifelong commitment to public service.

Mueller was the FBI’s second-longest serving director after J. Edgar Hoover. He took charge of the bureau in 2001, days before the September 11 attacks, and oversaw a significant expansion of its counterterrorism mission. Before his time at the FBI, Mueller was a decorated Marine during the Vietnam era and served as a federal prosecutor in San Francisco and Boston, handling high-profile cases that included prosecutions related to mob boss John Gotti and Panama’s General Manuel Noriega.

He retired from the FBI in 2013 after extending his term at the request of President Obama, but was brought back from retirement in 2017 to lead the special counsel investigation after President Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey. The probe lasted roughly two years and culminated in Mueller’s testimony to Congress.

Mueller’s team brought charges against 34 people — including six associates of Trump — and three companies. The 448-page report documented numerous contacts between members of the Trump campaign and individuals linked to Russia but did not allege a criminal conspiracy. It also detailed efforts by the president to influence the investigation. Mueller himself stopped short of declaring whether the president had committed a crime, writing: “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.”

Edited by: Karl Sexton

Robert S. Mueller III, the former FBI director and the special counsel who led the high-profile investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, died Friday at age 81, his family said. No cause of death was disclosed; his family previously told The New York Times he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease four years ago.

“With deep sadness, we are sharing the news that Bob passed away,” his family said in a statement shared with news outlets. The announcement prompted responses from political leaders and former colleagues across the spectrum.

President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with Mueller during the special counsel probe, posted on social media: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” The law firm WilmerHale, where Mueller had been a partner, described him as “a friend” and “an extraordinary leader and public servant and a person of the greatest integrity,” noting his decorated service in the Marine Corps, his years leading the FBI and his work at the Department of Justice.

Former President Barack Obama called Mueller “one of the finest directors in the history of the FBI,” praising his post-9/11 transformation of the bureau, and added that Mueller’s “relentless commitment to the rule of law” made him one of the most respected public servants of his time.

Mueller was born Aug. 7, 1944, in New York City and raised in Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1966 and earned a master’s degree in international relations from New York University before serving in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, where he received the Bronze Star. He later attended the University of Virginia School of Law and joined the Justice Department in 1976, prosecuting cases for U.S. attorney’s offices in San Francisco and Boston. He worked as a partner at Hale and Dorr (now WilmerHale) and served as a senior litigator in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C.

Nominated by President George W. Bush, Mueller became FBI director in 2001 and was sworn in a week before the Sept. 11 attacks. Under his leadership the bureau shifted its priorities toward counterterrorism and intelligence, expanding capabilities to anticipate and prevent threats—a transformation his deputy called among the most significant in the FBI’s history. The bureau also faced criticism at times, including for errors in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings. Mueller stepped down as director in 2013.

He returned to public view in May 2017 when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed him special counsel after then-FBI Director James Comey was fired. Tasked with investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible links to the Trump campaign, Mueller’s nearly two-year probe resulted in a more than 400-page report issued in March 2019. The report concluded it did not establish that the campaign conspired with the Russian government and did not reach a prosecutorial determination on whether President Trump obstructed justice; Mueller told Congress that Department of Justice policy restricted charging a sitting president but declined to exonerate him.

The investigation produced charges against 37 people and entities, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and national security adviser Michael Flynn, and led to multiple indictments of Russian individuals and organizations. Many defendants later received pardons, clemency, or saw cases resolved as the legal and political fights continued.

Mueller’s long career in public service—as a Marine, prosecutor, FBI director and special counsel—was widely noted for discipline, restraint and a steadfast commitment to the rule of law.