Two veteran agents were removed from leadership roles at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. The bureau agrees the shake-up happened. The reason behind it remains disputed.
Michael Burgwald led counterterrorism operations at the field office. Courtland Rae served as his deputy. Both men were reassigned to FBI headquarters on Friday.
At the center of the dispute are allegedly harassing calls received by Katie Miller. She is a conservative podcaster and the wife of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller, as per a report by CNN.
What the FBI Team Reportedly Found
A counterterrorism team reviewed the calls, according to two people mentioned in a report by CNN.
Investigators found no apparent connection to terrorism. The calls also failed to meet the threshold for opening a wider FBI investigation, the sources said.
Burgwald and Rae were later removed from their leadership positions. As per sources quoted by a CNN report, bureau leaders were unhappy with how the matter had been handled.
Bloomberg Law reported a similar account. Its sources said senior officials were dissatisfied with the pace of the inquiry. Details about the calls have not been made public. The identities of the callers also remain unknown.
FBI Denies Kash Patel Ordered the Reassignments
Darren Cox oversees the FBI’s Washington office. He confirmed that Burgwald and Rae had been moved.
Cox denied that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered their removal. “It was a personnel decision made at the Washington field office level alone,” Cox said through the FBI’s Rapid Response account, as mentioned in the CNN report.
He said the decision followed a regular review of the office’s operational needs. However, CNN’s sources offered a different picture. They said the decision came after disagreement over the Katie Miller review.
White House Defends the FBI Leadership Decision
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said Stephen Miller and his wife never interacted with Burgwald or Rae.
Bis claimed senior FBI leaders concluded the agents were “stifling investigations into very serious threats.” She said those leaders made their own decision to remove them.
The agents were not fired from the FBI. They were transferred away from their counterterrorism leadership posts.
Burgwald is a West Point graduate who received awards during his FBI career. Rae has spent years working on national security cases. He previously supervised part of the bureau’s response to the Boston Marathon bombing.
Donald Trump’s FBI Personnel Changes Face Scrutiny
The episode comes amid wider concern over personnel decisions under Patel, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.
Several former FBI employees have sued Patel over earlier dismissals. Some plaintiffs claim they were targeted due to work on investigations connected to Trump. Those allegations remain before the courts.
Neither CNN nor Bloomberg reported that Donald Trump personally ordered the latest reassignments.
FAQs
Who are Michael Burgwald and Courtland Rae?
Burgwald and Rae were senior counterterrorism officials at the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
Why were the FBI agents reassigned?
Sources linked the move to their handling of calls involving Katie Miller. The FBI described it as a local personnel decision.
