Background

• Mueller was born in New York City and grew up outside of Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University in 1966 earned his master's degree in International Relations at New York University.
• Mueller briefly entered the military before going onto law school at the University of Virginia in 1973. He went on to work as a litigator in San Francisco until 1976.
• Mueller has been elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
• Mr. Mueller and his wife, have two daughters. (Source: FBI Gov.)

Professional Positions

• Mr. Mueller served for 12 years in United States Attorney's Offices, first in the Northern District of California in San Francisco, where he rose to be chief of its criminal division.

• In 1982, Mueller moved to Boston as an Assistant United States Attorney where he investigated and prosecuted major financial fraud, terrorist, and public corruption cases, as well as narcotics conspiracies and international money launderers.

• In 1989 Mueller served in the United States Department of Justice (DoJ)as an assistant to Attorney General Richard L. Thornburgh.

• Mr. Mueller took charge of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division.

• In 1993, Mr. Mueller became a partner at Boston's Hale and Dorr, specializing in complex white collar crime litigation.

• Mueller returned to public service in 1995 as senior litigator in the Homicide Section of the District of Columbia United States Attorney's Office.

• In 1998, Mr. Mueller was named United States Attorney in San Francisco and held that position until 2001.

• Robert Mueller was nominated by President George W. Bush and became the sixth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on September 4, 2001. (Source: FBI Gov.)

FBI Appointment:

• Mueller was nominated for the position of FBI Director on July 5, 2001. He and two other candidates were up for the job at the time, but he was always considered the front runner. Washington lawyer George Terwilliger and veteran Chicago prosecutor and white-collar defense lawyer Dan Webb were up for the job but both pulled out from consideration around mid-June. Confirmation hearings for Mueller, in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, were quickly set for July 30 days before his prostate cancer surgery. The vote on the Senate floor on August 2, 2001 passed unanimously, 98-0. He then served as Acting Deputy Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice for several months, before officially becoming the FBI Director on September 4, 2001, just one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. (Source: Wiki)

Accomplishments

• Mr. Mueller is the recipient of the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Criticism

NSA Domestic Wiretapping Investigation:

• Director Robert Mueller along with the then acting attorney general James B. Comey offered to resign from office in March 2004 if the White House overruled a Department of Justice ruling which concluded that warrantless domestic wiretapping was unconstitutional. Attorney General John D. Ashcroft refused to intervene in attempts by White House chief of Staff Andrew Card and then White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales to waive this ruling and permit the domestic warrantless eavesdropping program to proceed. President Bush ultimately gave his support to making changes to the program on March 12, 2004 thereby defusing a crisis here. (Source: Washington Post)

Additional Information

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Biography Links

• Robert Mueller
• Robert Mueller