Robert Mueller Is a Hothead Who Can't Own Up to His Mistakes, Former Aides Say
FBI Director Robert Mueller is sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during a hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," on Capitol Hill in Washington September 17, 2008. REUTERS/Molly Riley
Robert Mueller, special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, is a “gruff guy” who routinely undermined his subordinates and evaded responsibility as head of the FBI, according to several former aides and investigators who worked with Mueller interviewed by the Los Angeles Times .
In a lengthy profile published on Friday, the Times dredged up some of Mueller’s most difficult moments throughout his career as government prosecutor and as the sixth director of the FBI, a post he maintained from 2001 until 2013.
Those interviewed criticized Mueller’s handling of many high-profile cases stretching back to 1979, his temperament with government witnesses, and for directing his subordinates at the FBI to shield him from criticism.
The Times profile begins by focusing on Mueller’s tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he was criticized for mishandling high-profile cases and for his treatment of government witnesses and subordinates.
The first of these cases took place in 1979, when Mueller, as head of the U.S. attorney’s special prosecutors unit, took over the case against 33 members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club charged with drug trafficking, murder, and bombings. The first trial, which sought to imprison 18 of the accused members, was unsuccessful, as the five convictions reached in the case were overturned on appeal.
Mueller then took over the case and lead a team of four prosecutors in the second trial with 11 eleven defendants. However, as reported by the Times , “after four months, the jury said it was deadlocked, and the judge declared a mistrial. Mueller decided not to ask for a retrial.”
Mueller then transferred to the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston where he oversaw cases against Panamanian president Manuel Noriega, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, and head of the Gambino crime family, John Gotti.
However, his success was marked by a disdain from some of his subordinates. As noted by the Times , Mueller sparked resentment “when he referred privately to reassigning career lawyers as ‘moving the furniture.’”
After a short stint in private practice, Mueller returned to public service as a homicide prosecutor in Washington, D.C. in 1995, where Mueller reportedly had a tough time forging relationships with victims, suspects, and government witnesses and was charged with being cold and unsympathetic.
"He was a gruff guy, and a lot of times, there wasn't much warmth or ability to really build a bond or connect with a victim-witness," one of Mueller’s fellow investigators told the Times . "There's times when you've got to bond with the suspect to get what you need. His personality wasn't necessarily the best for that."
Mueller was also criticized for his time as head of the FBI. He led the investigation into the deadly anthrax attacks in the years after 9/11 for nearly seven years, ultimately leading in the prosecution of the wrong suspect, who later successfully sued the government for $5.8 million.
After agents successfully traced back the anthrax to an Army microbiologist who committed suicide once he was informed of the impending charges, Mueller “was reluctant to publicly address the missteps” in the case.
"I think he was personally embarrassed," a former aide told the Times . "I would assess him as someone that can't accept the fact that he screwed up."
Later, as director of the FBI, Mueller instructed his staff to protect him from the agency’s oversight division, according to former colleagues interviewed by the Times .
Most notably, Mueller is charged with scrapping a highly-critical review of his Directorate of Intelligence, a unit that he had created at the FBI to investigate terrorism more effectively.
After an internal inspection reported that Mueller should “set [the unit] on fire and start from scratch,” his top aides decided to protect the director at all costs by hiding the report from the Justice Department’s inspector general.
“It was, ‘The director will get skewered. We've got to protect him, and we can't issue this,’” a former official told the Times . “Anywhere it said ‘inspection,’ they changed it to ‘review.’ And said this was a review, not an inspection, and therefore they didn't have to issue it to … the inspector general.”
Lastly, the Times article delves into Mueller’s unsuccessful attempt at negotiating with Russian officials to turn over Edward Snowden in 2013.
According to a former official, Mueller would call his Russian counterpart, Alexander Bortnikov, “starting at 3 a.m. in Washington” every day for at least a week, “begging to talk to the guy.” Bortnikov reportedly never answered the phone, and Snowden was granted asylum in Russia soon after.
Through a spokesperson, Mueller declined to comment on the Times ' article.
http://www.newsweek.com/robert-mueller-special-counsel-russia-aides-criticize-722670
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Geoffrey Berman, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York was recused from the investigation into President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, CBS News' Pat Milton confirmed Tuesday. Berman played no role in the FBI raid of Cohen's residence and offices .
Obviously he didn't want to play any part in the 'Police State', Soviet style Justice.
Berman recused himself because he donated to the Trump campaign and, was appointed to his position by Trump and, is a partner in Rudy Giuliani's law firm.
Whatever the reason, he wasn't the one who ordered the Soviet style 'Police State' raid on Cohen like all the comments from the Left have been saying he was. When you don't know something, you make it up.
Of course he can't, the guy is a life long republican.
That is correct. Robert Mueller is a life long rock solid staunch conservative REPUBLICAN...
Whether he is a Republican or a Democrat is immaterial. He's right in the middle of the Swamp and Soviet style justice is his style as it has been proven many times before. What kind of man would let someone who he knew was innocent rot in prison. $100 million dollars paid out because of his determination to be right when he was proven wrong.
Robert Mueller Is a Hothead Who Can't Own Up to His Mistakes, Former Aides Say
A better description of Mr. Trump one might say.
Robert Mueller’s Dirty Past Comes to Light
A sordid story about the FBI’s involvement with organized crime in Boston has shed new light on the character of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a man that the media has assured us is “beyond reproach.” Mueller was a central figure in an FBI cover up that kept four completely innocent men in prison for decades, in order to protect the FBI’s reputation. Protecting the Deep State was so important to Mueller that he perpetuated an FBI cover up that allowed innocent Americans to rot in prison for more than 30 years.
During Boston’s mob wars in the 1960s, a low-level street criminal named Teddy Deegan was gunned down in an alley in Chelsea, MA. Deegan was killed by two Mafia gunmen who were also FBI informants, named Joe “The Animal” Barboza and Jimmy “The Bear” Flemmi. The FBI immediately knew that Barboza and Flemmi were the killers. In order to protect its informants, a conspiracy to convict four innocent men was hatched.
One of the men convicted of the Deegan murder in 1968 was a World War 2 veteran named Louie Greco. Mr. Greco received two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart fighting in the Asian theater of the war. At the time of the Deegan murder, Greco had moved to Florida with his wife and children. Greco passed eight separate polygraph tests stating that he was in Florida at the time of the Deegan murder. Mrs. Greco testified that her husband was with her in Florida. Yet Barboza — the real killer — and the FBI convinced a jury that Mr. Greco was in the alley and participated in the Deegan murder. Mr. Greco died in prison in 1995.
Henry Tameleo, another one of the innocent men sent to prison for the Deegan murder, died behind bars in 1985. Peter Limone and Joe Salvati, who were also framed by the FBI, were finally released from prison in the 1990s. Joe Barboza killed dozens of people for the Mafia and continued his killing spree even after the government placed him in the Witness Protection Program.
If this all sounds vaguely like a Martin Scorcese film, you’re not far off the mark. Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Departed” is loosely based on Winter Hill Gang boss Whitey Bulger (remember that name). Bulger was an FBI informant and had several Boston FBI agents on his payroll.
How is a conspiracy to keep four innocent men in prison for decades perpetuated? Through the tireless efforts of public servants who are “beyond reproach,” such as Robert Mueller.
Barboza told numerous reporters over the years that Louie Greco — the disabled World War 2 veteran — was not in the alley the night of the Deegan murder. The FBI’s files named Barboza and his accomplices as the murderers. Journalists wrote and published books about the four innocent men who were rotting away in prison for the Deegan murder.
But year after year, the Massachusetts Parole Board refused to let them out. Two crooked FBI agents who were on Whitey Bulger’s payroll used to go to the Parole Board and intimidate its members, to keep up the conspiracy. The US Attorney in Boston also sent letters to the Parole Board, insisting that the innocent men were guilty and should be kept behind bars.
Spoiler Alert: Robert Mueller was the US Attorney in Boston in the 1980s.
As the US Attorney, Mueller knew exactly what was in the FBI files on this case. He would have read them annually before sending those letters to the Parole Board. Therefore, Mueller knew that Joe Barboza and Jimmy Flemmi were the real killers. Mueller lied to the Massachusetts Parole Board to protect Mafia hitmen and to keep innocent men in prison.
In 2007, two of the surviving men and the estates of the two who died in prison were awarded more than $100 million in a lawsuit against the Justice Department for wrongful imprisonment. Joe Barboza was never punished for the murder of Teddy Deegan, but the American taxpayers were! We paid for the injustice that was perpetuated by the FBI and the DOJ for more than 30 years.
So, please tell us again how Robert Mueller is beyond reproach, progressives. If Mueller was willing to let four innocent men languish in prison for decades over a crime they did not commit, do you believe for one second that an avowed enemy of the Deep State like President Donald Trump is going to be given a fair shake in Mueller’s investigation?
Wow.....that's some heavy stuff!
Mueller has been in the Swamp for many years. He's prosecuted many people who were later determined to be innocent and he's never apologized for any of it. He's just like the title of this article says....
Robert Mueller Is a Hothead Who Can't Own Up to His Mistakes, Former Aides Say
Mueller is only looking for "Gotchya" moments....to make him and his team look relevant to the Tax payers !
Not one "Collusion" thingy has ever come up in anything we have seen on the MSM. The MSM does make it sound like "Russian Collusion" may be found because of these "Patsy" indictments though....but they are STILL searching.
If one thinks the FBI and any other government agency doesn't know what went on at any time, they are just Dupes in the world of Oz !
Remember folks.....Liberals are the ones that are "aghast"....even "Dumbfounded"...... at the thought that Government Secret Service Agencies are being called into question. According to ( Deleted ) ...these guys do NO WRONG .... and know everything. So this Mueller investigation is........political crap...... if you actually believe in our agencies.
Skirting {SP}
Derogatory statements attacking all within a category (e.g. liberals, conservatives, theists, atheists, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, etc.) are indirect derogatory references.
Exactly !!!!!!!!!!!
The noose must be getting pretty tight. If rump fires Mueller - the shit will hit the fan.
Rumpites are pretty desperate!
why ?
She doesn't know.
The MSM hasn't told some what to actually think yet !
Almost downright funny that the investigator being denounced as dirty is exposing the rights messiah for the dirt and corruption they have known and celebrated him for.
oh yeah, Muellers got Trump by the balls....just like with the liberal's Russian collusion fantasies.
You can't convince or open the eyes of those who choose to see ends by any means. These are not truly freedom loving people. Justice is getting what they want any way they can. Their hearts are filled with hate.
Unfortunately these people who are willing to do anything necessary to accomplish their goals are our enemies and the enemies of the this country.
Rand Paul:
They had nothing, you are right, what was I thinking although......going after a lawyer and the Presidents personal one at that signed off on by many different layers and investigative departments staffed by appointees of the President, must have been a crumb.
Sorry I have to lock this article. I have so much more evidence to back up this article, but I have to lock it because I can't be here to moderate it.
Remember when Schumer said, "Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you," That sounds like the KGB, doesn't it? We were on our way and this might just be a bump in the road with Hillary losing, but the old saying, "When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." Schumer probably didn't realize he was giving it away when he said that, but he told the truth and that's what the World Wide Left is all about.