Mr. Mueller expanded the bureau's presence overseas, deployed agents to gather evidence on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and pressed for expanded surveillance powers.
Hart expanded the bureau into a department, which by 1895 employed more than 700 Westerners and 3,500 Chinese, and collected more than 27,000,000 taels a year.
When Mr. Freeh retired from the bureau in June 2001, three months before the attacks, he left with a reputation as a savvy, independent leader who vastly expanded the bureau's international presence to help fight terrorism.
The decision by Judge Victor Marrero struck down 2006 revisions to the Patriot Act that expanded the bureau's power to use national security letters, and a 1986 law that first authorized such letters.
Director Louis J. Freeh of the F.B.I. said today that he would resign in June after an eight-year tenure in which he energetically expanded the bureau's reach around the world but warred almost continuously with Bill Clinton, the president who appointed him.
During his a tumultuous tenure, he expanded the bureau's global reach to respond to terrorism even as he was forced to confront a string of controversies -- most recently the arrest of Robert P. Hanssen, a senior F.B.I. agent who allegedly spied for Russia for 15 years.
A4 World Briefing A13 NATIONAL A14-21 Ashcroft Loosens Reins On F.B.I to Fight Terrorism Attorney General John Ashcroft said he was bolstering the fight against terrorism by expanding the bureau's authority to monitor the Worldwide Web, political groups, libraries and religious organizations, including houses of worship like mosques.
Even when the economy begins to expand, the bureau will still have plenty to do, as tax receipts typically lag in a recovery.
In response, Mr. Mueller described a reorganization plan he had previously presented to Congress that would expand the bureau's analytical capability and create units to improve its ability to collect and disseminate intelligence to field offices.
Louis Freeh has done much to expand the bureau during his eight years as director, and the nation owes him thanks for the F.B.I.'s successful efforts to combat terrorism at home and abroad.
