Two veteran FBI counterterrorism officials were demoted after investigators determined allegedly harassing calls to a top White House aide's wife did not warrant further investigation, according to multiple reports.

Michael Burgwald, who led counterterrorism operations at the FBI's Washington Field Office, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were removed from their leadership positions Friday and reassigned to FBI headquarters.

The shakeup followed an investigation into allegedly threatening and harassing calls received by Katie Miller, a conservative podcaster married to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

A field office team reviewed the calls but found they did not meet the threshold for an FBI investigation and identified no connection to terrorism, CNN reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

That conclusion reportedly caused friction with FBI leadership.

Bloomberg Law, which first reported the demotions, said Washington Field Office leadership was dissatisfied with the pace of the investigation and that the Miller family shared those frustrations. FBI Director Kash Patel was also displeased with the office's progress, according to the outlet.

The FBI and White House have pushed back on suggestions that the Millers or Patel ordered the personnel changes.

Washington Field Office chief Darren Cox said he made the decision himself.

"Director Patel did not order this decision," Cox said. "This was a personnel decision made at the Washington field office level alone based on our constant evaluation of mission needs."

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said the Millers had never met or interacted with Burgwald or Rae.

"Senior leadership at the FBI determined they were stifling investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them," Bis said.

Details about the calls themselves have not been made public, leaving unclear what investigators reviewed or why they concluded the messages did not warrant further FBI action.

Start your day with essential news from Salon.
Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The reassignments also remove decades of counterterrorism experience from the Washington office as the United States remains at war with Iran.

Burgwald is a West Point graduate who has received multiple attorney general's awards. Rae helped oversee the FBI's response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Both officials also worked on investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The Millers and their children moved from their Virginia home into military housing last year amid what the White House has described as a campaign of stalking, doxing and threats against the family.

The post "Very serious threats": FBI officials demoted after Katie Miller theats probe appeared first on Salon.com.

AI Mode Conversation: What was the specific content of threats to Kathie Miller?

WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - FBI personnel data recently stolen by the ShinyHunters hackers includes sensitive psychiatric and medical ​evaluation records, according to the hackers and documents reviewed by Reuters.

ShinyHunters, one of the world's most notorious and attention-seeking hacking crews, first said ‌it had breached the FBI on Tuesday. In the hack, the group obtained granular details about bureau employees and their assignments, Reuters previously reported, including sensitive work against Chinese spies, Russian intelligence, drug cartels and others.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a "Real or Fake?" quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

The breach has already rattled the bureau, but now threatens to turn into a serious counterintelligence risk, said Eric O'Neill, a former FBI operative who founded the cybersecurity consultancy Nexasure AI.

O'Neill said the presence of ​medical data was a sign that the hack was approaching the same kind of magnitude as the 2015 intrusion into the Office of Personnel Management, which ​exposed millions of Americans' sensitive clearance information, allegedly to Chinese intelligence.

He added that the data would be a powerful magnet for ⁠hostile spies.

"I would be shocked if Russian intelligence isn't knocking on their door and saying, 'We want that stuff, hand it over,'" said O'Neill.

The FBI declined to comment on the ​records. In a statement issued Wednesday, the bureau said it was "aggressively investigating" the reported breach.

ShinyHunters circulated the medical files to a small circle of reporters earlier this week after announcing ​it had broken into the FBIjobs.gov site and stolen what it claimed was 2 to 3 terabytes of data.

Reuters was able to partially authenticate some of the half-dozen files in several ways, ​including running two social security numbers in them against credit bureau data, and lining up the date of a pre-employment mental health evaluation against a former FBI analyst's ​LinkedIn profile. Reuters also matched the name of an FBI psychiatrist in the document to a LinkedIn profile with the same name and an identical job title.

In one case, Reuters was able ‌to confirm with ⁠a person familiar with the matter that a medical professional listed in one of the documents as performing FBI evaluations was in fact doing so at the time, although the person could not authenticate the entire file.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the matter.

The psychiatrist and the FBI employees named in the data either did not return messages or declined comment.

DOCUMENTS INCLUDE MEDICAL SPECIFICS

The documents reviewed by Reuters range in sensitivity. One medical record, which was part of a "fitness for duty" ​exam given to prospective employees, noted that ​an applicant took aspirin daily and was ⁠allergic to dust and cats.

Another record said a potential employee exhibited "symptoms of depression" in high school. A third document carried an electrocardiogram result.

Reuters could not establish whether the limited number of documents viewed were representative of the rest of the data trove held ​by ShinyHunters, or whether there even were other documents.

An FBI advisory released in May said the group has in the past ​exaggerated its level of ⁠access in an attempt to extort its victims.

ShinyHunters told Reuters on Tuesday the data it had was "very very very sensitive" and included medical information, discharges, prescriptions, clinical visits, and "any health issues with Agents."

The hackers said they had compromised several of the bureau's internal services, including the FBI's background and employee applicant screening system, FBI MedLink, which contains agency personnel medical records, and ⁠the FBI's ​Background Investigation Contract Services unit. Reuters could not corroborate those specific allegations.

Initially, the group said it would ​hold the data hostage until the FBI retracted its May advisory, which it said it took exception to. Since then ShinyHunters has removed that defiant statement from its website, saying Thursday it would not comment on ​what it would do "if the victim does not comply with our kind request."

Story updated with context and additional detail in paragraphs 10 through 15

Reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington and AJ Vicens in Detroit; editing by Chris Sanders and David Gaffen

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Five men arrested near a key U.S. bomber base in the U.K. on Sunday may have planned a "complex," coordinated attack with potentially far-reaching security implications for American military installations globally, a former U.S. intelligence official warned.

As counterterrorism police investigated after officers detained the suspects near RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a former Pentagon official also said President Donald Trump will ultimately be the one to decide the consequences if indeed the "trail leads to Tehran."

The men were initially held on suspicion of offenses under Britain’s Explosives Act before being arrested on terrorism charges in connection with the airfield, a key U.S. Air Force hub and the primary European base for American strategic bombers.

On Sunday, Trump said U.S. authorities had been monitoring the suspects prior to their capture.

FORMER UK PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR WARNS EUROPE ‘WE DON’T WIN’ IN WAR WITHOUT US SUPPORT

"We had them under investigation," Trump told reporters in Chicago. "They were looking to do big damage to our fort."

"It may have been Scotland Yard. I don't know. We worked with a lot of them. We had them under view for a long time, and we got them," Trump added.

According to Sky News, counterterrorism police were investigating whether Iran is linked to the suspected bomb plot.

Former Trump White House official Morgan Murphy told Fox News Digital that British authorities are leading the investigation alongside U.S. law enforcement and intelligence.

"Every phone, bank record and rental receipt will be run through British and American intelligence, and if the trail leads to Tehran, it will be found," Murphy clarified.

"But as American airmen and bombers seem to have been the target, Air Force investigators on the base, the FBI in London, and American intelligence will likely all work the case."

"If conclusive evidence proves Iran is behind an attempted attack on U.S. forces, the American President will ultimately decide how Tehran pays," Murphy added.

BRITAIN INTRODUCES SWEEPING NEW POWERS TO TARGET FOREIGN STATE-LINKED GROUPS INCLUDING IRAN'S IRGC

Former Defense Intelligence Agency official Andrew Badger told Fox News Digital the number of suspects and vehicles involved raised the possibility of a sophisticated operation.

"We are going to see elevated security protocols across Europe, across the U.K., and across the entire world for any U.S. installation," he said.

"This is a very significant threat, and again, seeing that we had five individuals involved and three different reported vans at the scene, this could have been a very complex, highly orchestrated operation," Badger added.

"This isn't just some type of amateur lone wolf operation," he said, noting Fairford’s strategic importance to the U.S. military. "Fairford is also where the U.S. houses its strategic bombers for Europe as well as the rest of the world."

He said a potential attack posed broader risks beyond the airfield itself which he said "could have had significant security implications. It could have damaged the nearby area."

HOW IRAN ATTACKS ARE FORCING THE PENTAGON TO RETHINK ITS DECADES-OLD MIDDLE EAST BASE STRATEGY

"They could have tried to use a VBIED or a vehicle-borne explosive device where the first van could have gone off at the front gate, and then the other vans would have gone in and tried to go for the strategic bombers," Badger said.

British authorities have not publicly identified who they believe was behind the suspected plot or announced a motive, but RAF Fairford had taken on greater strategic importance during the war with Iran.

The U.K. government previously authorized U.S. forces to use the Royal Air Force bases Fairford and Diego Garcia for limited defensive operations, including destroying Iranian missiles and launchers at their source.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) later warned that any base used to attack Iranian territory would be considered a legitimate target.

"Any base used to launch attacks on Iranian territory is a legitimate target for our forces," the IRGC said, according to reports.

"Tehran warned London in July to keep American bombers off Fairford, and if this plot traces back to Iran, the answer must be more bombers, not fewer," Morgan said.

IRAN EXPERT BRANDS ISLAMIC CENTER OF ENGLAND IRAN'S 'UK OFFICE,' URGES IMMEDIATE CLOSURE

A local councilor told Reuters there had been a recent security alert at Fairford and surveillance had been stepped up.

"So there was a specific threat about six weeks ago from the Iranians on this base. At the time, there was increased surveillance around the area," he told the outlet.

Badger, however, cautioned against assuming Iran was responsible while pointing to other potential threats.

"This could be Iran trying to gain strategic leverage in negotiations, but there are other actors as well," Badger added.

"But there's Russia, who's been launching a campaign of gray zone or hybrid warfare attacks across Europe, as well as Islamic extremists, which are still a significant threat here in the U.K."

"Was this some type of retaliation by Iran to perhaps try to gain leverage or to try to inflict a cost for the U.S. withdrawing from these negotiations? Again, we don't know for sure, but it is a possibility," Badger said.

Badger also pointed to RAF Welford, a major U.S. ammunition storage facility that primarily supports operations at RAF Fairford.

US EMBASSIES IN MIDDLE EAST WARN AMERICANS OF 'UNFORESEEN ESCALATION' AS LATEST STRIKES HIT IRAN

"RAF Welford is actually the second-largest weapons and ammunition depot in all of Europe," Badger said, noting that the facility where the U.S. stores ammunition "could have been a target as well."

"Other bases across Europe, including European and U.S. partners, have already been on a heightened state of alert," Badger continued.

"But of course, after this attack, I think they're going to be in an even more heightened state. You're going to have more frequent security patrols."

"There are reports that RAF Fairford was put onto what's called the Delta alert, which is the highest state of security alert within the military base system," Badger said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"So this is basically that 'an imminent terrorist attack is inbound,'" he concluded.

Two FBI counterterrorism leaders have been demoted following complaints about the handling of an investigation into allegedly threatening phone calls made to Katie Miller, MAGA podcaster and wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, according to reports.

Head of the Washington Field Office’s counterterrorism division, Michael Burgwald, and his deputy, Courtland Rae, were both demoted and sent to bureau headquarters Friday, sources told Bloomberg Law. Both officials have years of national security experience, according to reports, and were also involved in investigating the January 6th, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

According to MS NOW, Burgwald was ousted after his office was askedto investigate alleged harassing phone calls made to Katie Miller. However, the team determined the alleged threats didn’t meet the threshold required for an FBI investigation, nor was a connection to terrorism identified, CNN reported.

“Harassing phone calls aren’t even in the ballpark of terrorism unless an actual terrorist is doing the dialing,” one former FBI official told MS NOW.

The decision not to investigate allegedly angered FBI leadership and Burgwald was already known to have a strained relationship with FBI Director Kash Patel.

According to MS NOW, Stephen Miller, who runs President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign, and Patel were upset that Burgwald and Rae questioned the legitimacy of the investigation. Darren Cox, assistant director-in-charge of the Washington field office, ordered their removal.

CNN also reported that Burgwald and Rae were removed from their roles. Details about thealleged calls to Katie Miller were not shared by officials or the reports.

White House spokesperson Lauren Bistold The Independent that the Miller family has never interacted with or met the demoted FBI officials.

“Senior leadership at the FBI determined they were stifling investigations into very serious threats and made a unilateral decision to remove them,” Bis said.

Cox said Patel did not make the decision to oust the two veteran agents.

“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 posted in a statement on X Saturday. Any suggestion otherwise is false.”

The Independent has contacted the FBI for more information.

Since becoming head of the FBI, Patel has fired or demoted dozens of career employees including those who handled past investigations into Trump and his allies.

The Millers, who welcomed their fourth child in June, moved last fall from their Arlington, Virginia, home into military housing after a number of threats were allegedly made against them.

NEW YORK — The FBI has formally responded to a Midtown Tribune records request concerning Konstantin Borovoy and the period before September 11, 2001. The bureau declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist. The request is part of a broader documentary investigation into Borovoy’s public claim that he warned U.S. officials in 1999 about Osama bin Laden, civilian aircraft, New York and alleged Russian intelligence involvement.

September 24, 2026 | Midtown Tribune Investigations Desk

Editorial clarification: Midtown Tribune is investigating Borovoy’s allegations and related open-source historical material. We are not reporting as established fact that the Kremlin, the Soviet Union, Russian intelligence, or Vladimir Putin planned or directed the September 11 attacks. The official U.S. record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether contemporaneous records support, contradict or clarify Borovoy’s claims.

The New Development: The FBI Has Responded

On September 17, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Midtown Tribune a formal response to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records concerning Konstantin Borovoy from the period before September 11, 2001.

The FBI assigned the matter FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000 and identified the subject as:

“BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001)”

The FBI did not say that no records exist.

Instead, because the request concerns another living individual, the bureau said it would “neither confirm nor deny the existence of such records” under FOIA privacy exemptions (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C).

The FBI also stated that this standard response should not be interpreted to mean that records either exist or do not exist.

That distinction is central. The FBI response does not validate Borovoy’s allegations, but it also does not resolve whether responsive records exist.

Why Midtown Tribune Requested the Records

The FBI request is not the subject of the investigation. It is one tool being used to search for contemporaneous evidence.

Midtown Tribune is examining a specific historical claim: whether Borovoy provided U.S. authorities before September 11, 2001 with information alleging that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were preparing an attack involving civilian aircraft and New York, and whether that information also alleged involvement or cooperation by Russian intelligence or security structures.

The investigation asks four separate questions:

• Did Borovoy actually provide such information to U.S. officials before September 11, 2001?
• If he did, what exactly did he say and when did he say it?
• Did his information include a specific allegation concerning Russian intelligence or security services?
• Do contemporaneous U.S. government records support, contradict or materially qualify his later account?

Those questions should not be collapsed into a conclusion. Proof that a warning was delivered would not automatically prove that the warning was accurate. Proof of historical Soviet relationships with militant organizations would not automatically prove Russian involvement in 9/11.

What Borovoy Publicly Claimed

In a 2020 interview published by Gordon, Borovoy was asked directly about his claim that Russian intelligence services were involved in planning an attack by Osama bin Laden’s terrorists against the United States.

Borovoy answered that he had traveled to the United States in 1999 carrying information about preparations for terrorist attacks. He described the information as alleging that bin Laden and al-Qaeda intended to use civilian aircraft against skyscrapers in New York.

He further said that he told a deputy director of the FBI in Washington about the information.

These are Borovoy’s statements, not independently established findings by Midtown Tribune.

Source: Gordon interview with Konstantin Borovoy.

Borovoy’s Claimed Source: Two GRU Officers

In the same interview, Borovoy said that the information came from two officers whom he identified as GRU officers. According to his account, those officers told him about bin Laden while he was investigating other allegations involving Russian security structures.

Borovoy also claimed that a later FBI inquiry made with the assistance of a U.S. congressman confirmed that the FBI had possessed such information but had failed to act on it because of poor coordination among agencies.

Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained the alleged 2003 FBI response described by Borovoy. Until such a document is produced and authenticated, that portion remains Borovoy’s claim.

A Contemporaneous Fact: Borovoy Was Testifying in Washington in 1999

There is independent official evidence placing Borovoy in Washington during the relevant period.

On October 7, 1999, Borovoy testified before the U.S. House Committee on International Relations at a hearing titled U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Part II: Corruption in the Russian Government.

The official congressional record identifies him as a Russian State Duma deputy and chairman of the Economic Freedom Party.

In that testimony, Borovoy warned about the criminalization of Russian political power, hostility toward the United States and NATO, and the possibility that Russia could develop into what he called a “small evil empire” hostile to the democratic world. He also warned that U.S. policy could produce circumstances resembling events preceding Pearl Harbor.

Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office — October 7, 1999 House hearing.

But the public transcript of that hearing does not contain Borovoy’s later specific claim about bin Laden, civilian aircraft striking New York skyscrapers or Russian intelligence involvement in such an operation.

That absence is important. It is one reason Midtown Tribune is seeking other contemporaneous records.

Why Midtown Tribune Is Also Examining the Soviet-Era Record

Borovoy’s allegation concerns post-Soviet Russian intelligence. Midtown Tribune is also reviewing older open-source material because some former Soviet-bloc intelligence officials described a much earlier history of state contact with militant organizations and aircraft hijacking.

This historical material may provide context. It does not by itself establish continuity from Soviet operations to the September 11 plot.

Ion Mihai Pacepa’s Claim About the KGB and Passenger Aircraft

Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former senior Romanian intelligence official who defected to the United States, later made a striking retrospective allegation about Soviet intelligence and terrorism.

Writing in 2011, Pacepa said that KGB chairman Yuri Andropov viewed international terrorism as a strategic weapon and claimed that hijacked passenger aircraft became a KGB terrorist tool beginning in 1969.

Pacepa further claimed that a series of major hijackings had been organized through KGB structures and carried out by militants trained by the KGB.

Source: Ion Mihai Pacepa, “What I Remember,” National Review, 2011.

Midtown Tribune treats this as Pacepa’s retrospective allegation. It is not equivalent to an official finding that the Soviet Union created the specific September 11 method of crashing hijacked civilian aircraft into buildings.

What Archival Records Show About the KGB and Wadi Haddad

Separate archival material provides documentary evidence of a covert relationship between the KGB and Wadi Haddad, who headed external operations for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

A KGB memorandum dated April 23, 1974, reproduced and translated by the Bukovsky Archives, states that the KGB had maintained secret working contact with Haddad since 1968. The document says the relationship allowed Soviet intelligence to exercise influence over the PFLP’s external-operations section and potentially pursue Soviet objectives through the organization while preserving secrecy.

Source: Bukovsky Archives — KGB memorandum, April 23, 1974.

A second KGB document dated May 16, 1975, also reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives, describes Haddad as a trusted KGB intelligence agent and records a covert Soviet transfer of foreign-made weapons and ammunition to him.

Source: Bukovsky Archives — KGB memorandum, May 16, 1975.

These documents are relevant to the historical question of Soviet relationships with militant organizations. They do not establish that the KGB planned the September 11 attacks.

U.S. Government Records Confirm Earlier Terrorist Hijackings of New York-Bound Aircraft

Official U.S. records provide another part of the historical background.

On September 6, 1970, members of the PFLP launched a coordinated series of aircraft hijackings. U.S. State Department records show that TWA Flight 741 was scheduled from Frankfurt to New York and Swissair Flight 100 from Zurich to New York when they were hijacked. Other aircraft were also targeted in the operation.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian — September 6, 1970 telegram on multiple hijackings.

A National Archives account of the same episode describes four commercial aircraft in Europe destined for New York City as targets of the coordinated September 1970 operation.

Source: U.S. National Archives — historical review of the September 1970 hijackings.

But the 1970 operation involved hijacking, hostage-taking and destruction of aircraft after passengers were removed. These U.S. archival records do not establish a Soviet plan to crash civilian aircraft into New York skyscrapers.

What the Official 9/11 Record Says

The established U.S. account attributes the September 11 attacks to al-Qaeda.

The FBI’s official history of the investigation states that the 19 hijackers were trained by al-Qaeda and that the Bureau opened the PENTTBOM investigation immediately after the attacks.

Source: FBI — 9/11 Investigation.

The 9/11 Commission reconstructed the development of the plot within al-Qaeda, including the roles of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden.

The Commission also reported that the available evidence showed the 19 operatives were funded by al-Qaeda and that it found no evidence that a foreign government or foreign government official supplied funding for the plot.

Source: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States — Chapter 5.

That finding is significant, but it should not be stretched beyond what it says. A finding concerning financing is not automatically a finding about every conceivable intelligence contact, relationship, source, warning or form of assistance.

What the Current Evidence Does — and Does Not — Show

What is documented

• Borovoy publicly claimed that in 1999 he carried information to the United States concerning bin Laden, al-Qaeda, civilian aircraft and New York.
• Borovoy publicly alleged that the information included a Russian-intelligence dimension.
• Borovoy was in Washington and testified before Congress in October 1999 on Russian political and security concerns.
• Pacepa later alleged that Soviet intelligence had adopted aircraft hijacking as a terrorist instrument decades earlier.
• Archival KGB material reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives documents a covert KGB relationship with Wadi Haddad, a major PFLP external-operations figure.
• Official U.S. records document PFLP hijackings of New York-bound passenger aircraft in 1970.
• The official U.S. 9/11 record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda.
• The FBI has now declined to confirm or deny whether it holds responsive pre-9/11 records concerning Borovoy.

What is not established

• Midtown Tribune has not established that the Kremlin planned the September 11 attacks.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that Vladimir Putin personally ordered or approved the attacks.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that Russian intelligence directed Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda’s 9/11 operation.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that the Soviet Union designed the specific tactic of crashing civilian passenger aircraft into New York skyscrapers.
• Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained a contemporaneous FBI document confirming Borovoy’s claimed 1999 warning.
• Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained the 2003 FBI response Borovoy says confirmed that the information had existed inside the U.S. government.

What the FBI’s New Letter Means

The September 17, 2026 FBI letter is important because it creates a documented new step in the records search.

It confirms that the FBI formally processed Midtown Tribune’s request under FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000 and identified its subject as “BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001).”

But because the request concerned a third party, the bureau invoked privacy exemptions and declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

The letter therefore cannot honestly be described as either:

• “The FBI confirmed Borovoy’s warning,” or
• “The FBI confirmed there are no Borovoy records.”

Neither statement is supported by the response.

Midtown Tribune Has Asked Borovoy to Request His Own Records

After receiving the FBI response, Midtown Tribune contacted Borovoy and asked him to consider filing his own first-person request for FBI records covering the period from January 1, 1999 through September 11, 2001.

The purpose is straightforward: the FBI’s current response is based on privacy protections applicable to a request concerning another person. A request from Borovoy himself could permit a different records review, although other legal exemptions could still apply.

Midtown Tribune has supplied Borovoy with draft language for such a request.

The Evidence Midtown Tribune Is Looking For

The investigation is now focused on documents created before September 11, 2001.

Particularly important would be authenticated records showing that, before the attacks, U.S. officials received information combining some or all of the following elements:

• Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda;
• civilian passenger aircraft;
• New York or New York skyscrapers;
• a planned attack against the United States;
• and an allegation concerning Russian intelligence or security personnel.

An FBI FD-302, electronic communication, intelligence referral, embassy cable, State Department record, congressional correspondence, visitor record or other contemporaneous government document could materially change the evidentiary picture.

Even then, two questions would remain separate:

1. Was the warning actually delivered before September 11?
2. Was the warning factually correct?

Those are not the same question.

The Central Question

Midtown Tribune’s investigation can be reduced to a narrowly framed historical question:

Did U.S. authorities receive a specific warning before September 11, 2001 alleging that Russian intelligence or security structures were connected to a bin Laden operation involving civilian aircraft and New York — and, if so, what evidence existed behind that warning?

That is the question the records search is intended to answer.

Bottom Line

The news today is that the FBI has responded to Midtown Tribune’s records request.

The bureau declined to confirm or deny whether it holds responsive pre-9/11 records concerning Konstantin Borovoy.

The larger investigation concerns Borovoy’s allegation that he warned U.S. officials in 1999 about bin Laden, civilian aircraft, New York and an alleged Russian-intelligence connection.

Open-source historical material shows that Soviet intelligence had covert relationships with figures involved in international terrorism and that militant organizations had used civilian passenger aircraft in coordinated operations decades before 9/11. Pacepa later alleged that aircraft hijacking had become a KGB terrorist instrument.

But those facts and allegations do not, separately or together, prove Russian responsibility for 9/11.

The missing evidence is contemporaneous documentation directly connecting the specific pre-9/11 warning described by Borovoy to U.S. government records — and, beyond that, evidence establishing whether the underlying allegation was true.

Midtown Tribune is continuing to look for that evidence.

FAQ

Did the FBI confirm that it has records about Borovoy’s alleged 1999 warning?

No. The FBI declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

Did the FBI say that no such records exist?

No. The FBI specifically said its standard response should not be interpreted to mean that records either exist or do not exist.

Is Midtown Tribune claiming that Russia organized 9/11?

No. Midtown Tribune is investigating Borovoy’s allegation and related historical evidence. The established U.S. record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda.

What exactly did Borovoy claim?

In a 2020 interview, Borovoy said he brought information to the United States in 1999 alleging that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were preparing to use civilian aircraft against New York skyscrapers. He also described the information as having a Russian-intelligence dimension. These remain his claims unless independently corroborated.

What did Pacepa claim?

Pacepa later alleged that Soviet intelligence had turned hijacked passenger aircraft into a terrorist instrument beginning in the late 1960s. Midtown Tribune treats this as a retrospective intelligence-source claim, not proof that the Soviet Union designed the September 11 attacks.

What do archival records independently show?

Archival KGB material reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives documents covert KGB contact with Wadi Haddad of the PFLP and later Soviet arms support. Official U.S. records document coordinated PFLP hijackings of New York-bound aircraft in 1970. These records establish historical context, not responsibility for 9/11.

Primary Sources and Investigation Files

FBI — September 17, 2026 FOIPA response to Midtown Tribune
FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000, subject: “BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001).” Midtown Tribune possesses the response letter. The public article does not reproduce the requester’s private address or any temporary eFOIA download token.

U.S. Government Publishing Office — Borovoy testimony, October 7, 1999
U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Part II: Corruption in the Russian Government

FBI — Official 9/11 investigation
9/11 Investigation

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
9/11 Commission Report — Chapter 5

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
September 6, 1970 telegram on multiple aircraft hijackings

U.S. National Archives
Historical review of the September 1970 hijackings

Konstantin Borovoy interview
Gordon — Borovoy interview containing his account of the alleged 1999 warning

Ion Mihai Pacepa — retrospective account
National Review — “What I Remember”

KGB memorandum reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives — April 23, 1974
KGB contact with Wadi Haddad

KGB memorandum reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives — May 16, 1975
Covert arms transfer to Wadi Haddad

Editorial Standard

Midtown Tribune distinguishes primary documents, established historical facts, retrospective testimony and unverified allegations. Statements by Konstantin Borovoy and Ion Mihai Pacepa are attributed to them unless independently corroborated. Historical evidence of Soviet intelligence relationships with militant organizations does not, by itself, establish Soviet or Russian responsibility for the September 11 attacks. This investigation will be updated if additional authenticated primary-source records become available.

Ask Midtown Tribune about this story

Answers are grounded first in this article. Search all Midtown Tribune reporting from the main AI Search page.