Mueller made mark during Hub tenure

Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, named to lead an investigation into alleged Trump campaign ties to Russia, previously served as U.S. attorney in Boston and is “hugely respected” in the Bay State, a former colleague says.

“He is the quintessential straight shooter,” said Mintz Levin attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, hired by Mueller as a federal prosecutor in the 1980s. “It’s impossible to think of a better choice if you are of the mind that the nation really requires at this profoundly dangerous moment somebody who can be trusted to get the facts.”

During his time in Massachusetts, Mueller oversaw cases on financial fraud, international money laundering and public corruption. He later became a partner at the former Boston law firm, Hill & Barlow.

“There not much he hasn’t done,” Robbins said. “He’s a prosecutor’s prosecutor … When he left Massachusetts he was hugely respected by his colleagues.”

Prior to his legal career, Mueller served in the U.S. Marine Corps, commanding a rifle platoon in Vietnam. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

Mueller was appointed FBI director in 2001 by then-President George W. Bush and stayed on beyond his 10-year term at the request of former President Barack Obama. He was replaced in 2013 by former FBI Director James B. Comey, who was fired by President Trump last week.

After his retirement, Mueller worked as a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm WilmerHale.

“He’s the kind of person who takes the prosecutor’s creed, to use the considerable power that prosecutors have carefully and judiciously and fairly, very, very seriously,” Robbins said.