Robert Mueller: Last of the Wise Men

Pundits were quick to dismiss the Muller testimony last Wednesday. The "bad reviews" pointed to a lack of memorable sound bytes and smoking gun moments. Predictably, Trump declared total victory and downgraded Mueller for giving one of the worst performances in American history. There was chatter about "bad optics." After all, getting Trump for obstruction of justice was a little wimpy in the first place The hope that Mueller would be the new Elliot Ness taking down our modern day Al Capone never quite materialized (or will it).

The contrast between Mueller's Establishment disposition and the shameless Trumpists were on full display.


Mueller's background is from a line of doctors, lawyers, military officers - pillars of the Establishment. Mueller attended the exclusive St. Paul's School in New Hampshire where John Kerry was his classmate - they played Lacrosse together. In the Tobias Wolff novel Old School, set at an elite private school in the early 1960s, the young men idolize Ernest Hemingway. His writing influenced their ideas on everything from romance to courage. There's a strong chance Mueller and Kerry both read Hemingway as students - and those books influenced them.

Twitter voices spoke of Mueller as a man out of his time. They're sort of right about that. He's 74 and never sought headlines or the media spotlight. After earning degrees from Princeton and NYU, Mueller volunteered for the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam, earning a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in the service of his country. Afterwards he graduated from the University of Virginia Law School and embarked on a career in law enforcement, becoming an expert on white collar crime and the criminal underworld. From 2001-13 he led the FBI during a tumultuous era, serving under both the Bush and Obama administrations.


It goes without saying the Establishment which groomed Mueller left a mixed legacy, yet one that looks like the height of statesmanship by today's standards. Many tomes have been written on the Eastern Establishment in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The Wise Men by Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas is one of the more sympathetic histories, referring to the group of men who transitioned America into a superpower after defeating Fascism. While they were white wealthy men who accrued all the privileges of their class - they also had an ethos of service and loyalty to America that went above partisan politics. The Marshall Plan to rebuild post-war Europe and decision to contain the Soviet Union shaped foreign policy for decades. 

When Mueller was appointed Special Counsel to lead the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, his old establishment values were destined to come into direct confrontation with the Trumpers. They repeatedly slurred his name and dismissed the entire investigation as an elaborate hoax. That was on full display during the hearing as well. 

Those who despise everything Trump stands for (me included) had faint hopes Mueller would pull off a Sherlock Holmes and present overwhelming evidence of the President's high crimes. What happened was for more complicated and dealing with complexity within the 24 news cycle is not the media's strong suit. Perspective comes with time.

In reality something did happen with long term consequences. Mueller made it clear the investigation never exonerated Trump (could be prosecuted after leaving office) and that Russian attacks are a real thing and will only get worse, the new normal in Mueller's words. 

Mueller's curious confrontation with the Trumpers mirrors the contradictions of the current moment. From the get go, Trump and his followers prided themselves on being unprincipled and crude, gleefully tapping into the darkest corners of the America psyche. Their open admiration for Putin's anti-liberal crusade makes them ideal bedfellows. For Mueller and the orphaned GOP "Never Trumpers", such a position would've been unthinkable a generation ago. Mueller's stoic retorts to the GOP grandstanding were tinged with melancholy and quiet defiance.

Obviously the "Mueller will save us" narrative was unrealistic. Does that mean The Mueller Report should be tossed aside? Absolutely not. As time passes, the Report will take on a new resonance. We know the shape of things to come if all this continues. The threats facing democracy are deep rooted and resurgent. Mueller's pursuit of the truth will hopefully not be the last gasp of democracy, but a written record that some still care about the facts.