Explore Quotes by Robert Mueller

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

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.

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

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.

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.

As I said before, there are often disagreements as to what a particular set of facts mean. That is not at all unusual, and one shouldn't read into it more than is there.

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.

If you look at the 19 hijackers who came to the United States in Sept. 11 to commit those acts, if you'd looked at them before they got onto a plane, you could probably say the same thing. There were various levels of expertise, various levels of competence.

It's because we need to determine who in this country is poised, positioned to commit terrorist acts.

In planning an attack, persons have various roles.

For the men and women of the FBI, bravery is reflected not only in the physical courage often necessary in the job. It can be seen in the courage of conviction, in the courage to act with wisdom in the face of fear, and in the courage it takes to admit mistakes and move forward.

Perimeter defense may not matter if the enemy is inside the gates.

I am convinced that there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be. And even they are converging into one category: companies that have been hacked and will be hacked again.

I remember... seeing the first plane go into the towers and thinking: 'It's a beautiful day. Somebody really must have gotten off course to have the plane go into the towers.'

My admonition is, 'No counterterrorism lead goes uncovered.'

For the FBI and for the United States, the war on terrorism is a complex and perplexing issue. It is as complex and perplexing as any issue we have ever faced.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country and overseas are peaceful, law-abiding citizens. However, a small number of Muslims are members of fundamentalist sects sworn to the destruction of the United States.

We cannot turn back the clock. We cannot undo the impact of technology. Nor would we want to.

Leaking of classified material is a concern.

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.

And at that point, I think we all realized it was something tremendously tragic, probably a terrorist attack, and the next step was to go down to our command center and get things going.