Two senior FBI agents removed after investigation into harassing phone calls toward Stephen Miller’s wife

Two veteran FBI agents who oversaw counterterrorism operations in the capital were removed from their posts and reassigned, as CNN reports. Michael Burgwald, special agent in charge of counterterrorism matters at the FBI’s Washington office, and his deputy Courtland Rae were removed over the handling of an investigation involving Katie Miller, the conservative podcaster and wife of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller.

According to CNN, the office team that reviewed the alleged harassing phone calls Katie Miller received from unknown persons concluded they did not meet the threshold required for an FBI investigation and that no terrorism link was identified. That decision was not well received by the bureau’s leadership, and the two senior agents were removed from their posts. The news was first reported by Bloomberg Law.

Darren Cox, the senior executive who oversees the FBI’s DC office, confirmed the removal on the FBI’s official “Rapid Response” account, but denied that the order came from FBI Director Kash Patel: “It was a personnel decision made solely at the Washington office level, based on our ongoing assessment of mission needs. Any suggestion to the contrary is false.”

The White House, through spokeswoman Lauren Bis, said Stephen and Katie Miller had no interaction with Burgwald or Rae and that senior FBI leadership “determined they were obstructing investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them.” The removal has angered many FBI employees, who, according to CNN, see it as a politicized move.

Last year, according to CNN, the couple became angry with FBI officials after career agents opposed using bureau resources to investigate critical paper flyers about Stephen Miller placed in their neighborhood; like several other Trump officials, the couple later moved into military housing. Since taking office last year, FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, has fired, demoted or forced into retirement numerous career employees who had handled past investigations of Trump and his allies; many of those removed have sued for reinstatement.