Transcript: FBI Director Robert Mueller

Good afternoon. I'm Dave Cook from The Christian Science Monitor. Thanks for coming. Our guest today is Robert S. Mueller III, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Mueller is the fourth FBI director to meet with our group. It is a tradition we value and want to renew. The esteemed William Webster came every other year or so when he was heading the FBI. But in the 1990's we suffered a bad case of directorus interruptus, going a full decade without a visit by the head of the FBI. So we are especially happy to have Director Mueller with us today.

Robert Mueller became the sixth director of the FBI with fateful timing on September 4, 2001. He brings an impressive background to the assignment of leading the men and women of the FBI in protecting the United States from future terrorist attacks.

Born in New York in 1944, Robert Muller attended St. Paul's School and Princeton University and then went on to win a masters degree in international relations from New York University. Unlike many of his generation with a privileged educational background, Director Muller served in Vietnam as a Marine First Lieutenant. He received a variety of medals including a Bronze Star for heroism and a Purple Heart.

After leaving the military, he earned a law degree at the University of Virginia and then toiled for a dozen years in US attorneys' offices in California and in Boston. After some years as a partner at a major Boston law firm, Mr. Mueller returned to the Justice Department as assistant to Attorney General Thornburgh and later as assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division.

After another tour as a partner at a Boston law firm, in 1995 Mr. Muller became a senior litigator in the Homicide Section of the US Attorney's office here in the Washington. Sadly it's an office that never seems to lack for business. He moved back to California after being named US attorney in San Francisco and held that position until 2001 when he became Acting Deputy Attorney General. That was his last career stop before being named to a 10-year term as FBI director.

Let me say a couple of words about mechanics before we get going. At the request of the bureau chiefs of organizations represented here today, news from this lunch - like all of our gatherings -- is embargoed for use until 6 p.m. tonight. At the FBI's request, the Monitor will prepare a transcript of this session for distribution to journalists who cover the FBI regularly for the TV networks and the wire services. The transcript will have an embargo of 6:00 p.m tonight. The document also will be e-mailed to all of the news organizations represented at lunch today.

Some of have been to a lot of Monitor breakfasts. (Including my predecessor over there, Mr. Sperling, who hosted more than 3,200 of them.) For those of you who are new, it is worth mentioning that our goal is to provide a forum as much like a civilized conversation and as little like a hit-and-run press conference as is possible. Your help with that today will be greatly appreciated.

To that end, after the Director's opening comments, I'll serve up a couple of slow-pitch questions and then turn Director Mueller over to your tender mercies.

If you want to ask a question, please make the traditional, subtle, non-threatening gesture in my direction. With some 40 reporters here today, clearly not everyone will get a question. But I'll do my best to call on folks sitting in every corner of the room.

With that, we will start with some opening remarks from the director. The floor is yours, sir.

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