Robert Mueller: The mysterious American public figure who can decide the fate of Trump | World

As a special advocate of the Department of Justice of the United States, he was charged with investigating allegations of links "between the Russian government and people badociated with the campaign of President Donald Trump" and, according to the US press, is in the process of writing his report final. According to the content, he can give force to Trump's demands for impeachment by the Democratic opposition.

Mueller's critics accuse him of running a plan to overthrow Trump. Already his supporters claim that he is a tireless official, willing to discover the truth.

Who is the man behind the headlines?

The FBI agent, Lauren C. Anderson, was investigating a murder in Libreville, the capital of Gabon (West Africa), when she received an urgent phone call.

At the other end of the line, the voice tells him that Robert Mueller, who had been appointed FBI director two years earlier, wanted to talk to him.

"I was very surprised," she told the BBC. "I thought: What could happen here, what does he need to know?"

But it was not to talk about Gabon, but about something that had happened to Anderson a few weeks ago in Paris: during a train trip, she had done a heart mbadage on a man who had a heart attack. The man could not resist and Anderson finally comforted his widow while the paramedics took care of him.

"I heard that you tried to save someone's life," Mueller told him on the phone. "Thank you"

This memory tells him something important about Mueller.

"He found a moment in the day, in the midst of the complete chaos that reigned in the world, to call me, he takes seriously the fact that people act appropriately.

Born in In 1944, in a flourishing Manhattan family, Robert Swan Mueller 3rd was born in Princeton, New Jersey, and studied at the exclusive boarding school in St Paul, New Hampshire, where his moral values ​​were quickly recognized by his colleagues.

"C was an unusually serious young man," recalls Maxwell King, his clbadmate at the time.

King remembers an incident that occurred in outside the school canteen.

"The inner college kids are often very sarcastic," he says. "I remember we were laughing at someone and Bob (Mueller) just got up and left, stating that he did not like it. "He shook his head and left. [196] 59016] This contempt for intimidation and a rooted sense of right and wrong are often mentioned by those who live with Mueller, commonly referred to as "a law and order man".

After studying politics at Princeton University, Mueller was part of the US Marines and was sent to the Vietnam War in 1968.

"At that time, few people from privileged backgrounds like the ours volunteered to go), "said the king. "It's indicative of Bob's dedication."

In a rare interview in 2002, Mueller explained his decision.

"One of the reasons I joined the Marine Corps was that I had lost a close friend, Marine, to Vietnam." He was one year ahead of me in Princeton, "he said. "Many of us (colleagues) thought we should follow his example."

As a lieutenant, Mueller leads a platoon and is wounded twice in action. He is then decorated with a bronze star for courage.

On his return from the war, he studied law at the University of Virginia and graduated in 1973. He held various legal positions – in Boston, for example, he worked as a prosecutor in terrorism cases and international money laundering. In 1990, he joined the Department of Justice.

From there, "he could have spent the rest of his life making money in a law firm," says Tim Weiner, author of Enemies: A History of FBI,. "Instead, he preferred to become a prosecutor in Washington's criminal justice system, which is actually an intermediate position (career)." He felt the moral obligation to fight crime Washington, which was experiencing a homicide epidemic partially caused by drug wars. "

In August 2001, the Senate confirmed Mueller's appointment as Director of the FBI. Exactly one week after taking office on September 4, his work was completely transformed by an event of considerable magnitude: the September 11 attacks, which left nearly 3,000 dead.

"Imagine what his second week of work was like," said Weiner. "The FBI that it presumed to be a deeply problematic institution, made up of 95% of white men, did not fulfill its primary function, which was intelligence." During his 12 years in power, Mueller made the FBI a 21st century intelligence service and service under the law. "

Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who had worked for Mueller on the fight against terrorism after September 11, acquiesces.

" He managed to reorganize the FBI, which was focused on maintaining the FBI. (police) order to become an intelligence-driven organization, "he said.

But Mueller's impulse to modernize the FBI – whose technology was so outdated that agents could not even not send documents by e-mail – displeased to many people.

"Due to 9/11, he was forced to make dramatic changes to the FBI, and I can tell you that moving forward these changes does not make any difference. Was not a bland, "says Lauren Anderson.

" His decisions were reminiscent of a high percentage of agents that he was harming the FBI, "says Lauren Anderson.

Also , she claims that Mueller frustrated part of his team in because of his obsession with details.

"It sometimes made people crazy," she says. "It was not uncommon for him to ask for details during briefings, which many found useless, and anyone who had to answer these questions would be bored and embarrbaded if he had not obtained the details requested."

Mueller was also criticized for easing surveillance rules after 9/11, says Douglas Charles, professor of American history at Penn State University, an FBI scholar.

But it also evokes an episode in 2004 when incumbent President George W. Bush ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on US citizens as an anti-terrorism measure and Mueller threatened to resign; which prompted Bush to back down.

"He was extremely concerned about the risk that the United States would lose its civil liberties in the fight against terrorism," said Tim Weiner, who was living with Mueller shortly before the 2016 presidential elections.

"I have seen a man who is quite formal, always in a dark suit … But under this formal exterior is somebody of a very smart, presentable and of a very concentrated mind. "

Much has been said about Mueller's unobtrusive approach in his investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the November 2016 US election, since his appointment as a special prosecutor in May 2017 Little information was leaked from the investigation and he did not speak publicly about the case.

"The fact that we heard absolutely nothing from him, except for the judicial documents, is entirely compatible with the man for whom I worked", said Anderson.

"He is very reluctant in the media because he thinks what he has to say must be told by means of indictments and arrest warrants."

"There is some virtue to staying silent," says Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

"Everyone shouts in our time, including the president, everyone always says something". Being silent only adds to the mystique (around Mueller). He has the self-confidence needed to focus solely on the job. "

And Mueller was certainly criticized." Trump described it as "highly confrontational" and "discredited."

But Anderson does not think the discretion of his former boss will change, no matter what attacks he receives.