Robert Mueller quotes

Robert Mueller is an American public servant and former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Renowned for his integrity and dedication, he led the FBI through critical periods including the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. He is also known for overseeing the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Here are 39 of his quotes:

I know when I was here prosecuting homicides in the District of Columbia, one of the most effective units here was the cold case squad, which had on it FBI agents, as well as Metropolitan Police Department homicide detectives working together.

Robert Mueller

They're - FBI agents are some of the finest people you'll find anyplace in the country or the world. And I'm lucky to have the opportunity to work with them.

Robert Mueller

In the context of September 11, there were so many that lost their lives that - how do you single out one person? There were so many acts of heroism that day from so many people, whether it be firemen and police officers in New York and our agents also.

Robert Mueller

Prior to the passage of the Patriot Act, it was very difficult - often impossible - for us to share information with the Central Intelligence Agency, with NSA, with the other intelligence agencies, and likewise, for them to share information with us.

Robert Mueller

I would say in just about every investigation we have, there will be differences of opinion, where you have partial facts, as to what those facts mean.

Robert Mueller

In the United States, it's the mandate of the FBI to gather information relating to terrorism, go out and collect it, to do the interviews, to do the investigative work.

Robert Mueller

And from the moment that we realized it was a terrorist attack, there isn't an agent or a support person in the FBI that wasn't committed to bringing to justice those who were responsible for this.

Robert Mueller

But we had - I think if you look at law enforcement 10 years ago, if you look at the challenges, the FBI was focused excessively on what was happening in the United States.

Robert Mueller

People talk about the Patriot Act that was passed immediately in the wake of September 11. What the Patriot Act did was break down the walls between the various agencies.

Robert Mueller

The FBI's principal priority right now is protecting the United States against another terrorist attack.

Robert Mueller

I didn't know the organization, but the one thing you can say about the FBI, it's tremendously professional.

Robert Mueller

But since September 11, we have made every effort to try to work closely with state and local law enforcement.

Robert Mueller

The 19 hijackers that came over here to commit the attack on Sept. 11, there were those that were at the bottom of the line. There were those who were the principal conspirators. There were those who were the pilot. Everybody has a role.

Robert Mueller

We cannot go up on a wire. We cannot do a search without a judge on the FISA Court approving it and determining that we have met the standard that has been set forth by Congress in order to utilize these techniques.

Robert Mueller

So without getting into the specifics, I can tell you that to the extent that investigation is a relatively important investigation and meaningful, the president would have been periodically briefed.

Robert Mueller

In planning an attack, persons have various roles.

Robert Mueller

So there is a foreign intelligence purpose for every one of our FISA warrants.

Robert Mueller

I was in my office when - on 9/11. I think I had a number of meetings scheduled. I was just getting to know the bureau. And somebody walked in and said the first plane had - or a plane had struck the World Trade Center, one of the towers.

Robert Mueller

I think around the world, our agents are the best collectors of information you'll find.

Robert Mueller

We had to address information technology in the ways we had not before and give the agents the tools that they need to do their job more efficiently and more expeditiously.

Robert Mueller

Leaking of classified material is a concern.

Robert Mueller

There'll be differences of opinion in just about every intelligence analysis that you make.

Robert Mueller