1 year ago
Virginia officials and the head of the FBI called on Thursday for the reversal of a decision to relocate the headquarters of America’s top law enforcement agency to suburban Maryland.
They allege that a federal agency tasked with overseeing the relocation failed to address what they said were conflicts of interest in the selection process.
In an internal message to FBI employees on Thursday obtained by POLITICO, FBI Director Christopher Wray blasted the decision to move the agency to Greenbelt, Md., saying that a three-person panel unanimously recommended a site in Virginia for the new headquarters.
The panel, comprising two officials at the General Services Administration, which oversees federal real estate, and one FBI official, was then overruled by a political appointee at the GSA, who chose the Greenbelt site instead.
Wray emphasized that the agency’s objection was not with the Greenbelt site, but rather with the appearance of improprieties in the process, writing that “we have concerns about fairness and transparency in the process and GSA’s failure to adhere to its own site selection plan.” He added that “despite our engagement with GSA over the last two months on these issues, our concerns about the process remain unresolved.”
It was also revealed on Thursday that Wray had sent a letter to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan in October raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest by the senior political appointee at GSA who overruled the three-person panel. The FBI was concerned that “the Greenbelt parcel of land is owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which was the senior official’s immediate prior employer,” according to the internal FBI message.
Wray’s rare public rebuke was immediately seized upon by Virginia lawmakers from both parties, who are calling for the FBI to honor the initial decision of the three-person panel and choose a proposed site in Springfield, Va., for which they had lobbied extensively.
In a joint statement, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats, and eight members of the state’s House delegation said that “it is clear that this process has been irrevocably undermined and tainted, and this decision must now be reversed.”
Carnahan is rejecting Wray’s claims, saying in a statement that “any suggestion that there was inappropriate interference is unfounded. The choice of Greenbelt, Maryland, is fully consistent with the decision-making process as well as all laws, regulations, and ethical considerations.”
“We stand behind the process, the decision, and all of the public servants who carefully followed the process and made a good decision on behalf of the FBI and the public,” Carnahan continued.
The Washington Post was the first to report on Wray’s statements and the Greenbelt relocation decision.
On Wednesday evening, the GSA announced that a new FBI headquarters would be built in Greenbelt, capping off a yearslong push to relocate the nation’s top law enforcement agency from the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover building in downtown Washington.
The selection process, which dragged on for a decade after the Trump administration put the relocation push on ice, had sparked a cross-Potomac battle between Maryland and Virginia, as both states duked it out for a chance to host the new campus and reap the benefits of a major federal project for underserved communities in their states.
The Marylanders pushed for sites in Greenbelt and Landover, both suburbs of D.C. in majority-Black Prince George’s County. The Maryland bids were championed by Rep. Steny Hoyer, who stepped down this year after serving for two decades as the number two Democrat in the House, and the state’s Democratic governor, Wes Moore. The bids also had the backing of national civil rights groups.
Virginia, meanwhile, fought for the Springfield site, which is close to the FBI’s training center in Quantico. Virginia officials widely condemned the GSA’s announcement on Wednesday.
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