After serving as special counsel to the Department of Justice, wouldn’t Robert Mueller just want to settle down in Tahiti and chill?
It’s Washington. The land of the motivated. So, no. Mueller, 75, is moving on to — actually, he’s rejoining — WilmerHale, where he’ll be a partner.
His law practice will center on “high-profile investigations” and “crisis management.”
Robert Novick, the firm’s co-managing partner, is happy as a clam.
“We couldn’t be happier to have Bob, our extraordinary friend and colleague, return to WilmerHale,” Novick said in a release. “Few lawyers have been entrusted with as many matters of national significance as Bob, in both his public service and in private practice. Bob embodies the highest values of our firm and profession. We’re privileged to work alongside him once again.”
Mueller’s quote was quite drab.
“I’m glad to be at WilmerHale once again, a firm with a tradition of honoring public service,” Mueller said. “It was an honor to serve as special counsel. Now, I look forward to resuming my private practice alongside the talented lawyers at the firm.”
Mueller was the sixth director of the FBI.
In 2017, the U.S. deputy inspector general appointed him special counsel to honcho Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential race, which President Trump has vigorously labeled a “witch hunt.” Mueller’s team found no collusion, which Trump touts whenever he gets the chance. Mueller said the report didn’t exonerate and that he had been dishonest. Republicans largely declared there was nothing to see. Democrats and many journalists, however, insist that Mueller’s report didn’t exonerate POTUS.
In July, Mueller testified before Congress in what was a head scratcher of an appearance in which he seemed to be incredibly unprepared. Reports in major newspapers like the NYT described him as “confused” and “at a lost for words.” The only thing he was really clear about is that Russians are messing with U.S. elections. “They’re doing it as we sit here,” he said. “I hope this is not the new normal, but I fear it is.” (RELATED: Mueller Struggles To Answer Q’s About His Team’s Political Bias)
A certain someone predicted this wouldn’t go too well. (RELATED: Trump Predicts Mueller’s Testimony ‘Will Be Bad For Him’)
CNN’s report called Mueller’s responses “halted and stilting” and “shaky at times.”
Somehow political journalists survived the ordeal.
“I’m ready to die,” Splinter News‘s Katherine Krueger wrote at 8:30 a.m.
Her colleague, Jack Mirkinson, sounded only slightly more enthused. “I’ve got by C-SPAN on and I’m READY for this nonsense,” he wrote at 8:32 a.m.
Rafi Schwartz, also of Splinter News, called him “extremely flummoxed.”
Rejoining a law firm may be a great place for Mueller to hide out, however enticing an island on the Pacific Ocean seems. In March, Mueller and his wife, Ann, attended Easter service at St. John’s Episcopal Church near the White House.
MSNBC’s Mike Viquera was reported as “ambushing” and “hounding” Mueller. He was also referred to as a “so-called” reporter. But what would any of us do if they ran into Mueller at church, at Wendy’s or at Popeyes during a chicken sandwich lunchtime rush?
“Sir, could I ask you a couple of questions?” Viquera asked. “Will you testify before Congress, sir?”
Mueller had two words: “No comment.”
Some people hilariously lambasted Viquera for bothering Mueller on Easter.
Actress Patricia Heaton, for example, tweeted, “Shame on you.”
Vox‘s German Lopez added, “This is very gross. Don’t do this.”
NewsBusters‘s Curtis Houck remarked, “Ladies and gentleman, our national news media.”
Please. Whatever Heaton, Lopez and Houck.
This is not Mueller’s first rodeo at WilmerHale.
He worked there from 2014 to 2017.
Mueller was employed with Hale and Dorn for a few years in the mid 90s, which eventually became part of WilmerHale.
His education is pretty impressive.
He earned a B.A. from Princeton in 1966. He received an MA from NYU in 1967.
And in 1973 he graduated from UVA with a law degree.