Robert Mueller, Former FBI Director Who Led Trump Inquiry, Dies at 81

Robert S. Mueller III, the former F.B.I. director and special counsel who led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential coordination with the Trump campaign, has died at 81. Mueller spent 12 years as F.B.I. director under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, modernizing the bureau and refocusing it on counterterrorism and counterintelligence after the Sept. 11 attacks. His 2019 report on the Trump inquiry found that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election but did not establish that the campaign had criminally conspired with Moscow, making him a lightning rod for criticism from both supporters and opponents of the president. The investigation and its inconclusive findings on obstruction of justice became a defining controversy of Trump's first term and a central focus of subsequent congressional inquiries. Mueller's tenure as F.B.I. director and his later role as special counsel marked him as one of the most significant law enforcement figures of the early 21st century.