Former Russiagate special counsel Robert Mueller will not be able to testify at a House panel investigating the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation due to Parkinson’s disease, his family said.
The House Oversight Committee is investigating how the federal government handled Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell was convicted on similar charges in 2021.
Muller was FBI director from 2001 through 2013, according to The New York Times.
The panel has since withdrawn the request for Mueller to testify.
“Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the summer of 2021,” the family said in a statement.
Robert Mueller suddenly Ill with Parkinsons.
There seems to be a lot of illness in DC now that people may have to face the consequences of their actions.
Not buying it. pic.twitter.com/YlYU17KKHb— Gina Beana Fofina (@Ginasassyass) September 1, 2025
“He retired from the practice of law at the end of that year. He taught at his law school alma mater during the fall of both 2021 and 2022, and he retired at the end of 2022,” the statement continued.
“His family asks that his privacy be respected.”
Mueller’s health had been questioned in 2019, after his last public appearance when he testified about his report concerning discredited allegations that the 2016 Trump campaign worked with Russia.
Former Attorney General William Barr wrote in a 2022 memoir that during a 2019 meeting, Mueller’s hands “were trembling” and his voice was “tremulous.”
“I knew he wasn’t nervous, and I wondered if he might have an illness,” Barr wrote.
The committee is hoping to speak to former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton; former Attorney General Merrick Garland; and former FBI Director James Comey about various Epstein investigations.
As noted by The Hill, Mueller was FBI director at the time a 60-count indictment was filed against Epstein in 2007.
The next year, Epstein pleaded guilty to two state-level prostitution charges and received immunity from federal prosecution for those crimes.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, “Parkinson’s disease is a progressive movement disorder of the nervous system.”
“It causes nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain to weaken, become damaged, and die, leading to symptoms that include problems with movement, tremor, stiffness, and impaired balance,” the site explained.
“As symptoms progress, people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) may have difficulty walking, talking, or completing other simple tasks.”
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