Mueller implored members of the Senate Judiciary Committee not to strip the bureau of its ability to gather evidence through so-called national security letters, which allow the FBI to request information from businesses without a warrant, subpoena or judicial review.
He said the recent abuses, detailed in a report earlier this month by the Justice Department's inspector general, were the result of honest mistakes rather than skullduggery.
But his assurances did not appear to comfort either Democratic or Republican members of the panel, some of whom said they are rapidly losing confidence in the ability of the FBI to protect the country from terrorism.
"Every time we turn around, there is another very serious failure on the part of the bureau," said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee. "Another shoe drops, virtually on a daily basis.....
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