Two FBI Counterterrorism Leaders Demoted Following Investigation Dispute

Two FBI counterterrorism leaders have been demoted following complaints about the handling of an investigation into allegedly threatening phone calls made to Katie Miller, MAGA podcaster and wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, according to reports.

Head of the Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division, Michael Burgwald, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were both demoted and sent to bureau headquarters Friday, sources told Bloomberg Law. Both officials have years of national security experience, according to reports, and were also involved in investigating the January 6th, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

According to MS NOW, Burgwald was ousted after his office was asked to investigate alleged harassing phone calls made to Katie Miller. However, the team determined the alleged threats didn’t meet the threshold required for an FBI investigation, nor was a connection to terrorism identified, CNN reported.

“Harassing phone calls aren’t even in the ballpark of terrorism unless an actual terrorist is doing the dialing,” one former FBI official told MS NOW.

The decision not to investigate allegedly angered FBI leadership and Burgwald was already known to have a strained relationship with FBI Director Kash Patel.

According to MS NOW, Stephen Miller, who runs President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, and Patel were upset that Burgwald and Rae questioned the legitimacy of the investigation. Darren Cox, assistant director-in-charge of the Washington field office, ordered their removal.

CNN also reported that Burgwald and Rae were removed from their roles. Details about the alleged calls to Katie Miller were not shared by officials or the reports.

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis told The Independent that the Miller family has never interacted with or met the demoted FBI officials.

“Senior leadership at the FBI determined they were stifling investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them,” Bis said.

Cox said Patel did not make the decision to oust the two veteran agents.

“Director Patel did not order this decision. This was a personnel decision made at the Washington field office level alone based on our constant evaluation of mission needs,” Cox posted in a statement on X Saturday. Any suggestion otherwise is false.”

The Independent has contacted the FBI for more information.

Since becoming head of the FBI, Patel has fired or demoted dozens of career employees including those who handled past investigations into Trump and his allies.

The Millers, who welcomed their fourth child in June, moved last fall from their Arlington, Virginia, home into military housing after a number of threats were allegedly made against them.