Posted on 11/18/2023 12:35:36 PM PST by Twotone
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."
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"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."
I don’t want a cent spent on a new FBI headquarters; a GAO study a week ago found that most large federal departments are posting a 10 percent occupancy rate. But if they have to have a new headquarters, I can’t imagine a more appropriate location than the dump called Greenbelt, Maryland.
Swamp Fight.
Have them debate this from now until the end of time.
No start to construction until everyone is happy !
I consider that a GOOD thing. The FBI deserve nothing more. The building is a reflection of the agency itself...
I think Guam would be a far better location.
We never had this kind of discussion when Robert Byrd of the KKK was alive and in Congress...
Snicker...
....elites holds the deed for the land,,,
Is there any way to find out exactly who does hold the deed for the Land? We should be able to find out and shout it out to the whole country.
Everything I know about the fbi I learned on Ozark.
The Hoover building is 50 years old; how could it be in a state of disrepair and falling down? The Treasury Building was built in 1836, was used as a fort in the Civil War, and seems to be doing just fine at the age of 187. The Hoover building looks like something out of the Stalin era in Soviet Russia; it is most appropriate for the FBI which has copycatted much of what the KGB did.
It would be nice to scatter all the federal Agencies in locations around the country, rather than centered in the D.C. Area. Why not put the FBI HQ in Kansas or somewhere like that?
I don’t do drugs but shouldn’t the FBI HQ be in the District of Corruption where they can keep an eye on the thieving politicians there?
“National agencies” should be placed nationally!
“Greenbelt, Maryland”
How about Greenland?
“Sheets” Byrd would have moved the FBI to West Virginia if he were still around.
I was stationed at Marine Barracks Guam, to me it was a tropical paradise.
Agana was a big enough town to have a good time in plus the scuba diving was outstanding.
For the FEEBEE guys new headquarters I was thinking of something more along the lines of Barrow, Alaska.
“Why not put the FBI HQ in Kansas or somewhere like that?”
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Kansas? Why poor Kansas?
Why not Point Barrow, Alaska?
That location alone would probably be enough to discourage most of their recruits except for the most zealous of the
Gestapo types that are attracted to such bulling type work.
There’s already an FBI office building in Manassas, Virginia. Good place for it. They don’t have to go far to find something to do.
The current J. Edgar Hoover is fine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar
_Hoover_Building
Just fix it up.
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