Robert Mueller III '66 appointed special counsel to Russia investigation

On May 17, the Justice Department appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller III ’66 to serve as a special counsel to oversee an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump” and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”

Mueller was appointed by President George W. Bush in August 2001 to his role at the FBI, and became director on September 4, 2001, just one week prior to the September 11 attacks. He served a full 10-year term and an additional two years as FBI director, stepping down in 2013. He graduated from the University in 1966 with an A.B. in politics before going on to earn a master's degree from New York University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School. He served for three years in the Marine Corps and is a decorated Vietnam War veteran.

Mueller started working as a litigator in San Francisco during the 1970s before working in various DOJ posts, eventually becoming the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California. As FBI director, he is best known for the shift of that agency towards counter-terror operations, and a 2004 episode in which he and his eventual successor to the FBI directorship, then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey, refused to reauthorize a Bush administration domestic surveillance program.

In February 2012, Mueller received the University’s Woodrow Wilson Award in recognition of his contributions to public service and gave an Alumni Day address that year titled "Leadership, Humility, and Service: The Princeton Tradition."

This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available...