Virginia lawmakers call for investigation into FBI headquarters site selection over alleged 'political considerations'

Virginia lawmakers demanded a federal probe into the site selection for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Last week, the General Service Administration issued a press release announcing that it had selected a location in Greenbelt, Maryland, as the home for the new FBI headquarters. According to the government agency, Greenbelt was "the best option for the FBI and the United States government because the site was the lowest cost to taxpayers, provided the greatest transportation access to FBI employees and visitors, and gave the government the most certainty on project delivery schedule."

The GSA also noted that the site "provided the highest potential to advance sustainability and equity." The spot was chosen over two other potential locations — one in Landover, Maryland, and another in Springfield, Virginia.

Immediately following the GSA's announcement, FBI Director Christopher Wray accused the agency's selection process of showing some "potential conflicts of interest."

"In the course of our work with GSA, however, we identified concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving the site selection authority and whether changes that individual made in the final stage of the process adhered to the site selection criteria. Despite our engagement with GSA over the last two months on these issues, our concerns about the process remain unresolved," Wray told FBI staff.

Last Thursday, 70 House Republicans voted with Democrats to move forward with the new $300 million FBI headquarters, shooting down an amendment proposed by Republican Florida Representative Matt Gaetz that would have blocked funding for the structure.

Critics of Gaetz's amendment argued that the FBI's current headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., is in a "state of disrepair" and "is falling down."

Viriginia's congressional delegation drafted a joint letter Wednesday to the GSA's inspector general requesting a formal investigation into the agency's selection of a 61-acre plot in Greenbelt.

The letter claimed that the GSA ignored a unanimous three-person panel selection of the Springfield site, instead allowing a political appointee inside the agency, who had previously overseen land acquisitions for Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority, to override the experts' suggestion in favor of the Greenbelt site. Lawmakers argued that the selection appeared politically motivated, citing that the agency went against the FBI's site preference and abruptly changed its selection criteria.

The letter, which was signed by nine Virginia Democratic and Republican House members and two Democratic senators, stated, "There is overwhelming evidence suggesting that the General Services Administration (GSA) administered a site selection process fouled by political considerations and alleged impropriety — one that was repeatedly curated to arrive at a predetermined outcome."

"Throughout the site selection deliberations, GSA suppressed, dismissed, and overrode the judgment and recommendations of career officials from GSA and the FBI," the letter added.

"In defending the indefensible, GSA has decided to proceed with the selection of Greenbelt over the objections of its client agency, the FBI," it continued. "These facts, when taken together, paint an ugly picture of a fatally flawed procurement that demands further investigation."

The agency told the Post it welcomed a review of its selection process.

"As a part of our long-standing commitment to transparency, we proactively and publicly released our site selection plan, decision-making materials, and results of our legal review evaluating the FBI's concerns," a spokesperson stated. "We carefully followed the requirements and process, and stand behind GSA's final site selection decision."

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