Robert S. Mueller III, the former special counsel who investigated ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease four years ago, his family said in a statement on Sunday.
In recent months, Mr. Mueller, a former F.B.I. director, has had difficulty speaking and experienced mobility issues, people familiar with his condition said. As a result, Mr. Mueller cannot comply with a request to testify this week before a congressional committee investigating the government’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigations, they said.
“Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the summer of 2021,” the family said in a statement to The New York Times. “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 statement from the family came after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said it would subpoena him to testify on Tuesday as part of its inquiry into the federal government’s handling of the investigations and prosecutions of the financier Mr. Epstein.
The committee wanted to question Mr. Mueller, 81, about the F.B.I.’s handling of the Epstein investigation when he served as its director from 2001 to 2013.
Mr. Mueller became F.B.I. director two weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During his tenure leading the bureau, he had a reputation as a commanding figure, known for not only his ability to remember minute facts about major national security cases but also his physical stamina.
Questions arose about Mr. Mueller’s health after he delivered a halting performance before Congress in 2019 about his report on ties between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, and whether Mr. Trump had obstructed that investigation.
Since he testified, Mr. Mueller — who had a longstanding reputation of keeping a low profile — has not spoken publicly or given an interview to a major publication.
The attorney general at the time Mr. Mueller submitted the Russia investigation report, William P. Barr, and the deputy attorney general at the time, Rod J. Rosenstein, who would end up at odds with the special counsel over their handling of his report, wondered to each other in 2019 after seeing Mr. Mueller face to face in a meeting whether he was ill, according to a book by Mr. Barr.
Defenders of Mr. Mueller and those who worked directly for him on the investigation have said that while Mr. Mueller showed his age during the special counsel investigation, he was sharp and fully in command of his team, and made all of its major investigative decisions.
During a key meeting to discuss the findings of Mr. Mueller’s investigation in 2019, Mr. Mueller’s hands “were trembling” and his voice was “tremulous,” Mr. Barr wrote in a memoir published in 2022.
“I knew he wasn’t nervous, and I wondered if he might have an illness,” Mr. Barr wrote.
Mr. Barr wrote that after the meeting, he and the deputy attorney general at the time, Mr. Rosenstein, discussed Mr. Mueller’s condition.
“Wow,” Mr. Barr said he said to Mr. Rosenstein. “Bob has lost a step.”
According to the statement released by Mr. Mueller’s family, it was about two years after his appearance before Congress that Mr. Mueller was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a disorder of the nervous system that gets worse over time. The disease causes nerve cells in the brain to weaken and eventually die, leading to symptoms that affect movement, including slowness, tremors, stiffness and impaired balance.
Mental health problems like depression or anxiety may occur in the early stages. As symptoms progress, people with Parkinson’s may struggle to walk, speak and swallow and chew food.
Most people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease are age 60 or older, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. There is no cure, though symptoms in the earlier stages may be managed with medication or, less frequently, surgery. The cause of most cases is unknown, but researchers believe that it is most likely a combination of genetics and environmental exposures.
Representative James R. Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is leading a congressional inquiry into the government’s handling of the investigations into Mr. Epstein. As part of that investigation, Mr. Comer wants to question a range of former Justice Department and F.B.I. officials and other politicians to question them under oath.
They include James Comey, the former F.B.I. director; Hillary and Bill Clinton; and Eric H. Holder Jr., Merrick B. Garland, Alberto R. Gonzales, Jeff Sessions and Mr. Barr, all former attorneys general.
Mr. Comer said in a letter to Mr. Mueller on Aug. 5. that “during your tenure as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2001 to 2013, the F.B.I. investigated Jeffrey Epstein for sex crimes.”
He added: “Because you were F.B.I. director during the time when Mr. Epstein was under investigation by the F.B.I., the committee believes that you possess knowledge and information relevant to its investigation.”
In 2008, the U.S. attorney in Miami, Alexander Acosta, negotiated a so-called nonprosecution agreement with Mr. Epstein’s lawyers. Under the deal, federal prosecutors declined to charge Mr. Epstein but he pleaded guilty to a lesser state charge of soliciting a minor for prostitution. As part of that agreement, Mr. Epstein served 13 months at a local prison, where he was allowed to leave custody and work out of his office six days a week.
After federal prosecutors indicted Mr. Epstein in 2019, the deal reached in 2008 was widely criticized, as it was seen as far too favorable to Mr. Epstein, who, according to court documents, continued to abuse underage girls in the years that followed. It is not clear how much involvement Mr. Mueller had in the Epstein investigation.
Mr. Mueller’s role in running the Russia investigation years after stepping down from the F.B.I. made him one of the most prominent figures in Washington during Mr. Trump’s first term, though his work was shrouded in secrecy and he kept an extremely low profile.
When Mr. Mueller submitted his report to the Justice Department, Mr. Barr characterized it on terms favorable to Mr. Trump, emphasizing that the investigation had found no collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia and that he and Mr. Rosenstein had determined that the investigation had found insufficient evidence to charge Mr. Trump with obstruction of justice.
Mr. Mueller sent Mr. Barr a letter objecting to his description, a step that documented the anger Mr. Mueller and the special counsel’s investigators had about how Mr. Barr had cast their findings.
Mr. Mueller’s report found a concerted effort by Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. It established no criminal conspiracy between Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia but raised questions about whether Mr. Trump had sought to obstruct justice during the inquiry. The special counsel said the question of whether Mr. Trump could be charged was made moot by the Justice Department’s longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Michael S. Schmidt is an investigative reporter for The Times covering Washington. His work focuses on tracking and explaining high-profile federal investigations.
Nina Agrawal is a Times health reporter.
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