When you can say, I get up in the morning to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution, it keeps people coming back. And I will stack our workforce up against anybody, anywhere, any day.

In everything we do, as long as I have anything to say about it, we're going to follow the facts independently, wherever they may lead, to whomever they may lead, no matter who likes it.

Our mission is simple, but profound - to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. That mission hasn't changed, and it won't change, not as long as I have anything to say about it.

I am very committed to the FBI being agile in its tackling of foreign threats. But I believe you can be agile and still scrupulously follow our rules, policies and processes.

My view is that, if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation-state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation-state about influencing or interfering with our election, then that is something that the FBI would want to know about.

There's no shortage of opinions about our agency, just like every other agency up here - and just like the Congress. I'd encourage our folks not to get too hung up on what I consider to be the noise on TV and in social media.

The FBI that I see is people, decent people, committed to the highest principles of dignity and professionalism and respect... Now do we make mistakes? You bet we make mistakes, just like everybody who's human makes mistakes.

We, the FBI, don't investigate ideology, no matter how repugnant. When it turns to violence, we're all over it.

I can't imagine a situation where, as FBI director, I would be giving a press conference on an uncharged individual, much less talking in detail about it.

My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law.

We have no information that indicates that Ukraine interfered with the 2016 presidential election.

The cyber threat has evolved dramatically since I left DOJ in 2005, partly just reflecting how much the digital world has itself evolved over that time. Back then, 'tweeting' was something only birds did.

We will not stand idly by while any entity - be it a foreign power or corporation - seeks to criminally or unfairly undermine our country's place in the world.

We take all potential threats to public and private sector systems seriously and will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.

It takes an incredibly special person to be willing to put his or her life on the line for the community, and we owe it to our law enforcement heroes to do whatever we can to make their work safer.

I will say that one of the things that hackers, of all shapes and sizes, prize the most in this world is anonymity and stealth and deniability. And by indicting them publicly, among other things, we strip them of that.

As a profession, we face unlimited threats with limited resources. We face a lack of trust in some of the communities we serve. We face a whole lot of second guessing and criticism about the work we're doing and the way we're doing it.

We are vested with significant authorities, and it is our obligation as public servants to ensure that these authorities are exercised with objectivity and integrity. Anything less falls short of the FBI's duty to the American people.

America's elections are the foundation of our democracy - so protecting them is a priority for the FBI and our partners.

Lack of lawful access certainly affects our ability to do our jobs, but we know where the harm really falls when evidence is kept unavailable - it falls on innocent people, the people we're sworn to protect.

I think it's important for the American people to be thoughtful consumers of information and to think about the sources of it and to think about the support and predication for what they hear.

Given our law enforcement authorities, our central role in the Intelligence Community, and the span of our responsibilities - from counterterrorism to counterintelligence to criminal investigations - we're particularly well-positioned to address cyber threats to our national security.

As cyber threats evolve, we need to evolve as well.

To be clear, we do not open investigations based on race, or ethnicity, or national origin. But when we open investigations into economic espionage, time and time again, they keep leading back to China.