FBI demotes two decorated counter-terror agents after they balked at ‘odd’ request involving wife of Trump aide Stephen Miller

The FBI removed two veteran counterterrorism leaders from their jobs after they disagreed with an investigation about alleged phone calls harassing Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s wife, reports have claimed.

FBI Washington Counterterrorism Division Special Agent in Charge, Michael Burgwald, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were demoted and sent back to the FBI’s headquarters, according to MSNOW.

The demotions came after Burgwald and Rae questioned the request for the counterterrorism section to conduct a threat assessment into a person believed to be carrying out harassing phone calls to Katie Miller, the outlet reported.

Burgwald and Rae raised questions about the legality and legitimacy of the probe, per the report.

Darren Cox, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, told the Daily Mail on Saturday night that FBI Director Kash 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 said. ‘Any suggestion otherwise is false.’

Burgwald is a West Point graduate who was presented with a national security-related award in 2016.

Meanwhile, Rae worked on the case concerning the Boston Marathon bombing.

FBI Co-Deputy Director Christopher Raia told the Daily Mail that the decisions ‘were based on a number of factors not reflected in the reporting and handled through the appropriate processes at the Washington Field Office.’

Raia stressed that Patel had not ‘directed the removal’ of Burgwald and Rae from their positions.

The team that reviewed the calls reportedly harassing Katie Miller found that they did not meet the threshold required for an FBI investigation, according to CNN.

A senior White House official told the Daily Mail on Saturday that ‘senior leadership at the FBI determined they were stifling investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them.’ 

The official added that the Millers ‘had never interacted or even met these agents.’

The family moved from Arlington, Virginia, to military housing in the Washington DC area last fall.

Protests had repeatedly popped up outside the home, though the senior White House official denied that was the reasoning for the Millers’ relocation.

‘There was an elaborate, well-documented stalking, doxing and threat campaign targeting the Millers’ residence,’ the official told the Daily Mail.

Stephen is currently the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, while his wife Katie, a former communications director to the vice president in the first Trump administration, hosts an eponymous podcast. 

Other Trump administration officials have also moved into military residences.

The two counterterrorism veterans’ demotion is the latest link in a string of controversies during Patel’s leadership of the FBI.

Patel previously came under fire for his alleged misuse of bureau resources, including his trip to the 2026 Milan Olympics.

At the time, he was spotted partying with the US men’s hockey team after their gold medal victory.

Patel has also been criticized for allegedly using FBI resources for the benefit of his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins.

Wilkins had a security detail featuring FBI agents as of last November, according to MSNOW. 

Patel also took a private jet belonging to the FBI to an event in which Wilkins, who is a country singer, was performing the national anthem, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The FBI has insisted that the decision to move Burgwald and Rae was not made at Patel’s direction. 

Since Patel began working as FBI Director, the bureau has removed senior officials from their roles.

Patel reportedly fired or removed officials involved in investigations against Trump, according to Bloomberg Law.