A highly accomplished lawyer who has a lifetime of legal and prosecutorial experience behind him, makes Robert Mueller an ideal candidate to investigate the allegations of Russian involvement with Donald Trump’s election campaign.
For Mueller, former WilmerHale partner (who represent Ivanka and Jared Kushner, incidentally) among other things, credibility is everything.
“You are only as good as your word,” he said. “You can be smart, aggressive, articulate, and indeed persuasive. But if you are not honest, your reputation will suffer.”
So who exactly is Robert Mueller? Seven key things to know.
1. Prosecution experience, par excellence.
He has “unsurpassed” experience as a federal prosecutor and lead the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the US Attorney’s office in San Francisco. (He led the prosecution of the Libyans responsible for the Lockerbie Pan Am bombing, for instance).
2. He knows the FBI – very well.
He knows the FBI. Mueller became FBI directory just one week before 9/11. He has handled the Bureau and its machinations, but also when it faced the greatest criminal act ever perpetrated on US soil.
3. He can handle complex, high level investigations.
He knows how to run a large investigation and how to handle the prosecution of complex cases. Apart from 9/11, he oversaw a major expansion of the Bureau and many high level complex inquiries.
4. He’s not a politician.
His role as an independent prosecutor requires a bipartisan ability to generate trust and to act without interference. Although he is, according to a Washington Post article in 2001, a registered Republican, you would not necessarily know it at all. Most observers regard him as apolitical.
5. He has real world experience.
He’s real. He’s not lived in any ivory tower despite his lofty career. As a US Marine he earned a Purple Heart in Vietnam.
6. He knows about hacking.
He’s been involved in Russian spying and hacking activities before, supervising the arrest of Russian hackers in 2005 and a spy ring in 2010.
7. He won’t be pushed around by the White House.
Mueller has been in the position of being pressured by presidents before. In 2004, he threatened to resign if then-President Bush reauthorized a wiretapping program Mueller believed to be illegal, according to The Washington Post. Bush ultimately changed his mind and the program was modified.
He will (hopefully) bring the Russia probe to an end.
Robert Mueller represents the strong possibility to end the Russian debacle, bringing his skills and abilities – not to mention credibility – to the fore. Closure on this matter is the end of a debacle most Americans would like to see finished. For good.
Time will tell.
