Robert Mueller, the special counsel whose investigation of President Donald Trump kept America transfixed for two years, died Friday night, according to a family statement provided to the Associated Press. He was 81. In August 2025, his family disclosed to The New York Times that Mueller had been “diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the summer of 2021,” and that he retired both from teaching and his law practice because of his escalating health issues. During Trump’s first term, the nation waited on Mueller and watched, eager to see whether its president or his campaign staff would be found to have conspired with a foreign power to get himself elected. Ultimately, Mueller offered a detailed report that accused Trump of misbehavior and possibly of obstructing justice, but which never came out and said the president had broken the law. “Russia’s actions were a threat to America’s democracy. It was critical that they be investigated and understood,” he wrote in 2020 in defense of his investigation. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/21/robert-mueller-trump-special-counsel-fbi-obituary-00039059