2 Veteran FBI Agents Ousted Over Katie Miller Investigation

Two senior FBI counterterrorism officials in Washington have been demoted and reassigned amid tensions over how aggressively the bureau pursued threats against the wife of top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, reports Bloomberg. Three people familiar with the matter say the FBI's Washington counterterrorism chief and his deputy were removed Friday after complaints that their investigation into hostile messages and calls to conservative podcaster Katie Miller was dragging. CNN reports the move came after the pair, Michael Burgwald and Courtland Rae, concluded that the threats did not warrant further investigation.

"Senior leadership at the FBI determined they were stifling investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them," says White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis. CNN notes that FBI chief Kash Patel has removed or demoted multiple staffers who had previously handed investigations seen as anti-Trump. However, DC field chief Darren Cox insists the move was his call alone and not ordered by Patel. The development reportedly isn't sitting well among current and former agency officials, with critics saying it strips a crucial office of decades of experience.