The inspector general for the United States General Services Administration (GSA), Robert Erickson, is investigating the decision to move the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters to Maryland.
The federal watchdog is conducting the probe after a contentious competition marked by allegations of conflict of interest from the bureau's director. For the GSA's part, it said that it chose the new location for the FBI's headquarters, in Greenbelt, Maryland, due to lower costs and easy access to transit.
FBI Headquarters Relocation Under Investigation
The consideration for a new headquarters has been discussed for over a decade. Additionally, the nearby states of Virginia and Maryland competed fiercely for the project. The announcement made earlier this month in choosing the latter brought sharp criticism from the former.
Virginia senators and representatives issued a joint statement on Thursday saying that "overwhelming evidence" suggested politics influenced the process. They then called on the GSA to delay anything related to the relocation of the FBI headquarters until the review is finished, as per NPR.
The Virginia delegation thanked the GSA inspector general for moving quickly and encouraged him to move forward to complete a careful and thorough review. On the other hand, lawmakers from Maryland said that the government chose their state because it has the best site and the project would be moving forward.
Maryland leaders said that any objective evaluation will find that the GSA decided after a thorough and transparent process. In a letter to Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the acting inspector general of the GSA said that the evaluation of the agency's process and procedures for selecting the site will start immediately.
The GSA manages the government's real estate portfolio and welcomes the review. It also pointed out that it had already released decision-making materials and a legal review of the concerns FBI Director Christopher Wray raised.
In a collaborative press conference earlier this month, lawmakers explained why Maryland was chosen as an ideal spot for the new building. State Gov. Wes Moore noted that the current building for the agency in Washington, D.C., is already crumbling, according to CBS News.
Potential Conflict of Interest
The GSA's various reasons for choosing Greenbelt are because it is a 0.1-mile walking distance to Metro and commuter rail. It also provides a consistent and predictable construction schedule as a public entity owns the site and offers a clear public process and timeline to achieve site control.
The area offered the best opportunity for the government's investment to impact the region positively through sustainable and equitable development. Lastly, Greenbelt provides the lowest overall cost to taxpayers.
The review comes after the FBI director told staff earlier this month that he had concerns about a "potential conflict of interest" in a GSA executive choosing a site that a previous employer owned. However, Wray noted that his objections were about the process and not the site, said the Associated Press.
