By Steve Neavling
Robert S. Mueller III, the former special counsel who investigated ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease four years ago, his family said, The New York Times reports.
“Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the summer of 2021,” the family said in a statement. “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.”
The disclosure came as a congressional committee canceled plans to subpoena Mueller, 81, to testify this week about the FBI’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigations. Mueller, who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, has recently struggled with speaking and mobility issues, people familiar with his condition said.
Mueller led the FBI through the Sept. 11 attacks and became known for his stamina and encyclopedic grasp of national security cases. But questions about his health surfaced after his hesitant testimony before Congress in 2019 on his report about Trump and Russia.
In a memoir, former Attorney General William Barr recalled Mueller’s hands “were trembling” and his voice “tremulous” during a 2019 meeting. “I knew he wasn’t nervous, and I wondered if he might have an illness,” Barr wrote. Afterward, Barr said he told Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, “Wow, Bob has lost a step.”
Mueller’s family said his diagnosis came about two years later. Parkinson’s is a progressive nervous system disorder that can cause tremors, stiffness, slowness, and impaired balance, and in later stages may affect walking, speaking, and swallowing.
