Two FBI counterterrorism chiefs were demoted over the pace of their probe into alleged threats to the wife of top White House aide Stephen Miller.
Bloomberg Law reported on Saturday that the head of the FBI Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division and his deputy were stripped of their posts Friday and sent to bureau headquarters. Bloomberg Law cited three people familiar with the matter.
The officials were identified as Special Agent in Charge Michael Burgwald and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Courtland Rae. Their division is responsible for threats tied to the Middle East.
The orders came from Darren Cox, who leads the bureau’s Washington office, according to Bloomberg Law. The sources said the move stemmed from frustration, shared by the Miller family, that the field office was moving too slowly in investigating allegedly harassing phone messages left with Katie Miller, who has a prominent MAGA podcast. The sources spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation.
Several of the people told Bloomberg Law that FBI Director Kash Patel was also unhappy with the office’s progress on the case. The outlet said it remains unclear whether Cox acted on his own or at the explicit demand of Patel or the Millers.
Burgwald and Rae were not fired, unlike a number of other FBI officials and agents who have run afoul of Patel. Still, former law enforcement officials told the outlet that the reassignments remove decades of respected counterterrorism experience from an office central to US efforts against violent extremism from the Middle East, and that the loss comes during the war with Iran.
Both men have held high-profile posts and received attorney general’s awards over the past two decades, according to Bloomberg Law. Burgwald is a West Point graduate. Rae supervised the FBI’s response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
An FBI spokesman did not immediately comment for Bloomberg Law. White House spokespeople likewise did not immediately respond to Bloomberg Law’s request for comment, and the outlet was unable to reach Burgwald or Rae.
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