Former Deputy US Attorney General James Comey, a Republican, was sworn in on Wednesday as the FBI director. He won Senate confirmation on July 29 as President Barack Obama's pick to head the FBI.
Comey, 52, replaced Robert Mueller, who has led the bureau since shortly before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Robert Mueller had spent his career prosecuting crimes - including local murders in Washington - after they occurred, not preventing them.
Mueller's 12-year stint makes him the second longest-serving director in FBI history after J Edgar Hoover.
"In the last 12 years, I think the American public has expected us to, yes, clean up the white-collar criminal activity, yes, handle public corruption, but most particularly to not allow another Sept 11 attack," he told reporters, sitting in a conference room at the FBI's J Edgar Hoover Building in Washington.
James Comey will be another former prosecutor. He served as the Justice Department's No. 2 official under President George W Bush.
With 36,000 employees, the FBI is the largest US investigative agency and the closest thing the country has to a national police force.Its investigations cover not only counter terrorism but organized crime, financial fraud, cyber crime and more.
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