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 (see also U.S. Department of Justice).

"Previously, several existing sets of guidelines applied to the FBI's activities, with one set applying to ordinary criminal law enforcement activities; one set applying to …