Two veteran FBI counterterrorism supervisors were removed from their jobs and demoted after a dispute over an investigation involving alleged harassing phone calls to Katie Miller, the wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Multiple people familiar with the matter described the episode to MS NOW.

Michael Burgwald, the special agent in charge of counterterrorism in the FBI’s Washington field office, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were both transferred back to headquarters after their removals. The sources said each man has deep national security experience.

Burgwald is a West Point graduate who received an award for his work on a counterterrorism case in 2016. Rae worked on the Boston Marathon bombing case, and both agents were involved in investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Sources, including former FBI officials briefed on the matter, said Burgwald had already angered FBI Director Kash Patel through a series of disagreements. They were granted anonymity because they were discussing sensitive matters.

According to those sources, the final break came after the Washington field office’s counterterrorism section was asked to conduct a threat assessment. The assessment concerned a person believed to have made harassing phone calls to Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster.

The request itself sparked disdain inside the FBI, the sources said. Some officials viewed the assignment as an unusual use of the bureau’s counterterrorism resources.

One former FBI official briefed on the matter offered a blunt assessment of the request. “Harassing phone calls aren’t even in the ballpark of terrorism unless an actual terrorist is doing the dialing,” the former official said.

Burgwald and Rae questioned both the legality and legitimacy of the request, according to the sources. Stephen Miller and Patel were displeased after the two agents raised those concerns.

Darren Cox, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, then ordered Burgwald and Rae removed from their positions, the sources said. The agents were demoted and transferred back to FBI headquarters.

Cox insisted that the decision was made within the Washington field office and did not come from Patel. His statement pushed back directly against any claim that the FBI director had ordered the personnel action.

“Director 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.”

The conflicting accounts place the bureau’s internal dispute under sharper scrutiny. Sources tied the demotions to the agents’ objections, while Cox characterized the move as a field office personnel decision based on mission needs.

Bloomberg News first reported the demotions. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The episode follows other departures and removals involving experienced counterterrorism personnel at the FBI. Veterans of the bureau have questioned whether those changes have significantly weakened its ability to prevent terrorism.

Many other experienced agents have retired earlier than planned, according to the report. Those agents said they could not continue working at an FBI they viewed as politicized.

The Millers moved from an Arlington home to military housing last fall amid an investigation into alleged threats made against them. The disputed FBI request involved a threat assessment concerning the person believed to have made the alleged harassing calls.

For Burgwald and Rae, questioning that request was followed by removal from the counterterrorism jobs they held in Washington. Their experience included major terrorism investigations, yet both now find themselves back at headquarters as the bureau faces fresh questions about how it is using its national security personnel.