In a rare show of bipartisanship in Congress, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers allege the site of the FBI's palatial new headquarters was chosen based on political influence, and not what was best for taxpayers.
Both U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) called on General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Inspector General Robert Erickson to “investigate potential political influence in the site selection process for the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)∂ headquarters,” the Committee announced in a statement.
“GSA must be fair and transparent in its operations. Its real estate dealings should consider only what is best for taxpayers and the Nation. It must set aside political or parochial interests. We are deeply concerned that GSA's choice of a new FBI headquarters site departed from those principles—and in doing so, failed to put taxpayers and the public interest first,” wrote Republican Comer and Democrat Connolly.
“On November 9, 2023, GSA announced it selected Greenbelt, Maryland as the new site of FBI headquarters. GSA initially set out criteria for assessing potential sites and a process for selecting among them but changed the rules and criteria toward the end the selection process,” the Committee notes.”
But it appears the Biden administration did not follow the usual selection process.
“Nina Albert, Biden's appointee to lead GSA, “overturned the unanimous site decision of an expert panel of civil servants,” the Committee reports.
“FBI Director Christopher Wray recently raised concerns about potential conflict of interest, fairness, and transparency in the process,” they add.
“GSA initially set out criteria for assessing potential sites, and a process for selecting among them. But it changed the rules in the middle of the game. The criteria were changed. The selection process itself was changed. Most disturbingly, a new umpire — a political appointee — was inserted in the final inning. That individual, Nina Albert, the Commissioner of the Public Building Service at GSA, overturned the consensus site decision of an expert panel of civil servants representing GSA and its agency client, the FBI,” Comer and Connolly write.
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