“Joint Statement of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller on the Issuance of the Attorney General Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations: “Since the 9/11 attacks, the FBI and the Department of Justice more broadly have set priorities for and reorganized their activities to prevent future terrorist acts against the American people. In furtherance of those efforts, the Department has taken steps to provide the FBI with the authority and the flexibility it needs to protect the Nation from terrorist threats, including revising the Attorney General guidelines that govern the domestic operations of the FBI. To provide enhanced support and guidance for the FBI in its core missions, the Attorney General is issuing a new, consolidated set of guidelines for domestic FBI operations. These guidelines provide more uniform, clearer, and simpler rules for the FBI’s operations. The guidelines are designed to allow the FBI to become, among other things, a more flexible and adept collector of intelligence, as recommended by major national advisory bodies and studies, including the 9/11 Commission, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, and the Congressional Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities. Among other improvements, the guidelines move us forward in protecting national security through enhanced intelligence collection and analysis.”

• Attorney General Consolidated Guidelines for FBI Operations (October 3, 2008)
• The Attorney General’s Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations, September 29, 2008
• Fact Sheet