"I think we're certainly vulnerable when it comes to the type of information that is out there. The type of information that is out there and available to those that want to find it and want to damage and harm to us. We're also to a certain extent vulnerable by the fact that we live by the rules passed by Congress. If I want to get an application before the court to intercept somebody's conversations, I have to show probable cause to believe that person is affiliated with a terrorist group. And if I don't get the probable cause, I can't do it. And we've had instances, Awlaki, a relatively famous individual exporter of the type of terrorism we've seen in the United States, was doing videos for a substantial period of time before the Fort Hood shooting, and it was only after that that we found out he was involved in the operations. Any other country, they may well have been up on his wire beforehand, because there's no responsibility of showing a court that there's probable cause to believe that this individual is involved in terrorist activities."

“You really don't think about it as you go through it; you just try to do the right thing at the right time.”

“When we had these African bombings of those embassies, we had an intelligence service in there that helped us. We had law enforcement agencies that helped us. We had access. In Libya, you have a government that does not control most of Libya, or a good portion of Libya. And consequently, the ambassador, the State Department, ourselves — were pushing to get in there at the earliest possible moment. And that ended up being a couple of weeks down the road. But that does not mean that we have not very thoroughly investigated that and are continuing to investigate it. And I do believe the persons responsible will be brought to justice.”

“Cyberbullying, I know, it's being handled, generally, on the state side with state legislation. I look at it, frankly, as a father with children, with their ability to use Facebook and the like, knowing that anything you put on Facebook is going to be there and be there and be there. And who at that age understands the consequences of doing something when you're 16 that may come back to haunt you when you're 25 and you're seeking a job not in the private sector, necessarily, but in the public sector that you really want but some of the things that you've said or done or taken back then preclude you from exploring those options.”

“I think there's a good chance we would have prevented at least a part of 9/11. In other words, there were four planes. There were almost 20 — 19 persons involved. I think we would have had a much better chance of identifying those individuals who were contemplating that attack.”

“Being a FBI agent, being a police officer in Denver, Aurora, or any community is a tremendously rewarding job. To a certain extent, it goes up and down. It can be thankless as well. But you're really serving your community if you're serving as a police officer. I prosecuted homicide cases in Washington for almost three years, where I spent much, if not most of my time in the courtrooms along with homicide victims' families and the like, and it tears apart a community, and there's no more valuable function to the safety and security of the community than the police forces.”

“After September 11th, you had core al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan with bin Laden. Bin Laden was killed. You have al Qaeda growing in countries like Somalia, but most particularly in Yemen. And there's still substantial threat out of Yemen. And now you have the countries in the Arab Spring: Tunisia, Libya, Syria, Mali; Egypt most recently, where they're breeding grounds for radical extremists who may not stay there, but may present an attack. And, finally, you have, within the United States, the growth of homegrown, radicalized extremists who are radicalized on the Internet and then get their instructions for developing explosives on the Internet, as well.”