Colleagues mark FBI Director Bob Mueller's retirement

By JOSH GERSTEIN |

8/1/13 12:42 PM EDT

FBI Director Bob Mueller was saluted by top Justice Department officials and other colleagues Thursday as he prepares to give up the leadership of the premier federal law enforcement agency — an organization he took over just a week before the Sept. 11 attacks.

“This is a moment we’ve all really been dreading for quite some time: the day we have to try to do our jobs without Bob Mueller,” Attorney General Eric Holder told a crowd of several hundred gathered in the Great Hall at the Justice Department headquarters. “He has, in short, set the standard for what it means to be the director of the FBI.”

The send-off event turned out a who’s who of the U.S. national security apparatus, including former Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet and current Director John Brennan.

“Bob Mueller has never changed. His life has been defined by trust, discipline and honor,” Tenet said. He was one of several speakers who paid tribute to Mueller for reorienting the FBI after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“This very decent man transformed the FBI and kept our country safe,” Tenet added.

Mueller, 68, spoke briefly, mainly paying tribute to his family and his colleagues.

“I leave knowing that the work will continue under the leadership of individuals in the Department of Justice and the FBI alike who embody the FBI’s motto of fidelity, bravery and integrity in the truest and best sense of those words,” he said.

Transportation Security Administration Administrator John Pistole, who served as a deputy to Mueller, said the director never sought the spotlight. “I don’t think there’s a single reporter on Bob Mueller’s speed dial,” Pistole said.

Mueller stepped into public service in the mid-1960s as a Marine platoon leader in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He began working as a federal prosecutor a few years after graduating from law school. Mueller was named head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division in 1990 and U.S. attorney in San Francisco in 1998.

Mueller’s successor, James Comey, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday in a 93-1 vote. He’s expected to take over the FBI early next month.

CORRECTION (Thursday, 4:44 P.M.): An earlier version of this post gave an incorrect first name for Margolis.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2013/08/colleagues-mark-fbi-director-bob-muellers-retirement-169714.html