FBI Demotes Threat Probe Agents
FBI Demotes Counterterrorism Agents Following Dispute Over Threat Inquiry Involving Stephen Miller's Wife
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The FBI removed Washington counterterrorism leaders Michael Burgwald and Courtland Rae from their posts and reassigned them to headquarters after a dispute over the handling of alleged harassing calls to Katie Miller, wife of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. Accounts differed over the inquiry: some sources said bureau leadership was frustrated by its pace, while others said field investigators concluded the calls did not meet the threshold for an FBI investigation and showed no terrorism connection. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said senior FBI leaders believed the agents were stifling an inquiry into serious threats; Washington office chief Darren Cox called the reassignments a local personnel decision and denied that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered them. The agents were not fired and have extensive national-security experience, including work connected to the Boston Marathon bombing and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Key Points
1
Sources told MS NOW that Burgwald had already clashed with FBI Director Kash Patel over a series of disagreements before the Miller inquiry became the final trigger for his removal.
2
A former FBI official called the request for a counterterrorism threat assessment unusual, saying, “Harassing phone calls aren’t even in the ballpark of terrorism unless an actual terrorist is doing the dialing.”
3
Bloomberg Law’s sources said frustration with the pace of the inquiry was shared by the Miller family, not just FBI leadership.
4
CNN reported that Patel has fired, demoted or pushed out numerous career FBI employees involved in past investigations of Trump and his allies, and that many have sued seeking reinstatement.
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