Robert Mueller, the former special counsel who investigated ties between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his family says.
Mueller, 81, was set to testify this week in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in its inquiry into the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Chairman James Comer, a Republican, subpoenaed Mueller, who served as FBI director between 2001 and 2013, to testify on Tuesday.
But in recent months, Mueller has found difficulty speaking and suffered mobility issues, people familiar with his condition told the The New York Times..
“Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the summer of 2021,” the family said in a statement to the newspaper. “He retired from the practice of law at the end of that year. He taught at his law school alma mater during the fall of both 2021 and 2022, and he retired at the end of 2022. His family asks that his privacy be respected.”
In a letter from Comer to Mueller dated August 5, the chairman had said: “Because you were F.B.I. director during the time when Mr. Epstein was under investigation by the FBI, the committee believes that you possess knowledge and information relevant to its investigation.”
The committee officially withdrew its request for Mueller to testify late Sunday, a spokesperson told ABC News, citing “health issues that preclude him” from being able to give evidence.
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative movement disorder that causes nerve cells in parts of the brain to weaken, become damaged and die, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “As symptoms progress, people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks,” it said.
Questions arose about Mueller’s health in 2019, two years before his Parkinson’s diagnosis, when he delivered disjointed testimony before the House Judiciary Comittee about his report on ties between Trump’s first-term campaign and the Russian government.
In one meeting, Mueller’s hands “were trembling” and his voice “tremulous,” then-Deputy Attorney General William Barr wrote in a memoir published in 2022.
In his final report, Mueller concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, that Trump’s campaign had contacts with Russians but no proven conspiracy, and Trump may have obstructed justice, though he was not exonerated. Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort and longtime adviser Roger Stone were among the 34 individuals and three companies indicted during the investigation.
Trump pardoned both Manafort and Stone, along with several other high-profile officials, in December 2020 for crimes uncovered during the Russia probe. Trump has repeatedly denied any claims of election meddling and branded it ‘the Russian hoax’.
