MD Site Picked For New FBI Headquarters Prompts VA Lawmaker Call For Investigation

VIRGINIA — Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation wrote to the General Services Administration’s Office of Inspector General on Wednesday to request an investigation into the site selection process for the new FBI headquarters complex.

The facts of the site selection process, which resulted in Greenbelt, Maryland, getting chosen as the new headquarters site for the FBI, “paint an ugly picture of a fatally flawed procurement that demands further investigation,” the lawmakers, who requested an immediate investigation, wrote in their letter.

Last week, it was disclosed that the GSA had chosen the Greenbelt site in Prince George’s County over a site in Springfield, Virginia, to build the new FBI headquarters that will replace the agency’s downtown D.C. location.

Based on the GSA’s decision, the new FBI headquarters campus will be built on a 61-acre site near the Greenbelt Metro station as part of a mixed-use development.

In their letter, the Virginia lawmakers cited concerns raised by FBI Director Christopher Wray about the site selection process. The letter from the Virginia lawmakers was signed by U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D) and Tim Kaine (D), and Reps. Gerry Connolly (D), Bobby Scott (D), Rob Wittman (R), Don Beyer (D), Abigail Spanberger (D), Jennifer Wexton (D), Jennifer McClellan (D), Jen Kiggans (R), and Morgan Griffith (R).

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“We write to request an immediate investigation into the serious concerns raised by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray, regarding the site selection process for a new FBI headquarters,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

On Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said the allegations of political meddling are unwarranted, The Washington Post reported. "Maryland is ready to move forward to provide a modern, consolidated headquarters that the men and women of the FBI deserve," Moore said.

But in their joint letter, the Virginia delegation said there is “overwhelming evidence” suggesting that the GSA administered a site selection process “fouled by political considerations and alleged impropriety — one that was repeatedly curated to arrive at a predetermined outcome.”

In the middle of the process, the GSA changed the original site selection criteria, which had been developed by GSA experts, in accordance with the agency’s own best practices for site selection, “in a way that favored the Greenbelt site, and did so over the objections of the FBI director,” the lawmakers wrote.

The GSA also changed the person tasked with confirming the final site selection from a career official to a political appointee, they said.

“As identified by the FBI, there existed a potential conflict of interest with that political appointee, tied to the Greenbelt site,” they wrote. “The political appointee then overturned the decision of a panel of career officials who unanimously selected Springfield, in part by changing how certain criteria were calculated and how certain factors were considered, contrary to what had been previously outlined to the public and to Congress by GSA.”

“In defending the indefensible, GSA has decided to proceed with the selection of Greenbelt over the objections of its client agency, the FBI,” the lawmakers said.

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