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Upon hearing the news of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s passing, President Trump took to Truth Social, expressing his relief with the statement, “Glad to hear he’s gone,” underscoring his persistent animosity towards Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
“Robert Mueller has passed away,” Trump announced. “Good, I’m glad he’s gone. He can’t harm innocent people anymore!”
Mueller, who passed on Friday night at 81, had been appointed by then-acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as special counsel in May 2017. This appointment followed closely after Trump dismissed James Comey from his role as FBI director.
In June of that year, a report from the Washington Post revealed that Mueller was looking into potential obstruction by Trump. This development came after Comey testified before Congress, alleging the president had urged him to halt the FBI investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
In response, Trump lashed out during a New York Times interview about a month later, criticizing Mueller’s team for alleged conflicts of interest and cautioning against expanding the probe beyond its original scope.
The next several months were characterized by a series of arrests and indictments of figures in Trump’s orbit, including Flynn; his former campaign chair, Paul Manafort; Manafort’s former business partner, Richard Gates; and former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos.
In April 2018, federal investigators raided the apartment, hotel room and office of Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Investigators reportedly sought records related to the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape that was released shortly before the presidential election and other evidence that had been concealed because it was potentially damaging to Trump.
The investigation continued, and in November of that year, Trump submitted written answers to Mueller about “issues regarding the Russia-related topics of the inquiry,” capping months of back-and-forth over how much the president would cooperate.
Roger Stone, an informal adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, was indicted in January of 2019, as Mueller’s probe neared its conclusion.
The 22-month investigation culminated in a 448-page report that found the Trump campaign did not conspire or coordinate with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. Mueller declined, however, to conclude whether Trump had obstructed justice.
“As set forth in our report, after that investigation, if we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that,” Muller said in 2019 when the investigation was finished. “We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the President did commit a crime.”
The investigation became a prime target of Trump’s, with the president regularly lashing out at Mueller and labeling the probe a “witch hunt,” “hoax,” and other pejoratives. He maintained it was politically motivated, a claim he continues to echo nearly seven years later.
In the waning months of his first term, Trump granted clemency to Papadopoulos and Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan. He also pardoned Flynn, a decision former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at the time “sets right an injustice against an innocent man and an American hero.”
Trump’s cold response to Mueller’s death on Saturday quickly drew strong backlash online.
“Every day, this president shows his basic indecency and unfitness for office,” Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on the social platform X.
“The cruelty is the point,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X. “Trump’s goal is to distract you from rising gas prices, his aimless war, ICE abuses, and the Epstein files. Don’t give him what he wants. And may Robert Mueller, a US Marine and lifelong public servant, rest in peace.”
Trump faced similar condemnation, including from some Republicans, in December when he suggested that director Rob Reiner and his wife, who were stabbed to death in their home, had died from “Trump derangement syndrome.”