Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity: The Robert Mueller I Knew

I worked for the former FBI Director for years, long before he was the Special Counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Here's what he meant to our country.

Frank Figliuzzi, the host of Need to Know on Lincoln Square, is an FBI Assistant Director (retired); 25-year veteran Special Agent; and author of the national bestseller, The FBI Way, and Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers. Subscribe to his Substack.

FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledges applause during President Barack Obama's remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House, June 21, 2013. The President announced James Comey, right, as his nominee to succeed Mueller. | Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Flickr

I sat in the daily morning briefing in the Director’s conference room at FBI Headquarters in spring 2011. In just a few months, Robert Mueller’s mandatory ten-year term limit as director would expire.

Near the briefing’s end, after each Assistant Director succinctly shared some noteworthy item, Mueller, a man of few words, had something to say. He talked about steps being taken to prepare for his departure and the transition to an interim director and ultimately a new appointee. When Mueller asked the assembled executives whether they had any questions, one less-senior attendee posed a query that made me wince. Those who had been around any length of time knew this wasn’t Mueller’s kind of question.

“What would you like your legacy to be?” the junior guy asked. Mueller quickly and quietly replied something like, “That’s not for me to decide; other people will do that.” He wasn’t someone who sat around thinking about himself.

Now with Mueller’s passing on Friday at age 81, maybe it’s time for us to ponder, briefly — because Bob would want us to get back to work — what Mueller meant and will mean to the country.

Just days after that morning briefing, President Obama asked Robert Mueller to serve an unprecedented two more years in this meat grinder of a role. While Mueller jokingly commented to us about how, in effect, they couldn’t find anyone willing to take on this job, we knew the truth. There wasn’t anyone who could do it as well as him.

Mueller agreed to Obama’s request, of course. He never said no to the nation he served in so many capacities, for fifty years. Ultimately, just as it did when Mueller was originally named director by George W. Bush, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved his extension. That kind of bipartisan agreement doesn’t happen much anymore. Public servants like Mueller don’t come along much either.

Since Director Mueller would grow impatient with a meandering briefing, I’ll give you the Bottom Line Up Front — BLUF is how we briefed back then: Mueller was the embodiment of the FBI’s motto: Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.