The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure wants communications and documentation related to the decision to locate the FBI's new headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland. MANDEL NGAN / Getty Images
House committee wants FBI headquarters documents outlining Greenbelt decision
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure chairman called for more information from the FBI, General Services Administration and the former official charged with selecting the site of the Bureau’s proposed headquarters about how the decision came to pass.
Scrutiny over the General Services Administration’s decision to move the FBI’s headquarters to Greenbelt, Maryland, increased Thursday as GOP leaders on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure joined a growing list of inquiries about the site selection.
Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Chairman Scott Perry, R-Pa., penned letters to FBI Director Christopher Wray, GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan and former Public Buildings Service Commissioner Nina Albert asking for all documents and communications related to the site selection.
Following a Dec. 12 hearing where FBI officials said concerns over the site selection process remain unresolved, Graves and Perry noted that the committee has jurisdiction over the project and its ultimate approval, necessitating a further examination of the decision.
“In light of the concerns raised about the site selection process and to assist the committee with its oversight, please provide responses to the following questions, as soon as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 2, 2024,” the letter said.
The committee requests all site selection communications and documentation shared between GSA and the FBI, as well as officials from Maryland, Virginia, the Office of Management and Budget, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and others.
Controversy over the Greenbelt decision continues to swirl around Albert, who had sole authority to make the selection and overruled the recommendations of a site selection panel that favored a Springfield, Virginia, location.
Though GSA officials, including its own general counsel, continue to assert that Albert acted transparently within her authority during the decision process, FBI officials and members of the Virginia congressional delegations have repeatedly raised concerns over her past ties to WMATA, who owns the Greenbelt site and under which Albert was formally vice president of real estate and parking.
Albert, who is now Washington, D.C. deputy mayor for planning and economic development, was invited to appear at Tuesday’s committee hearing, but declined. She has previously said that the process was transparent and that she would cooperate with various inquiring House committees.
The committee’s letter to Albert calls for any communication with WMATA officials not disclosed to GSA, details of the evaluation process and other information. Carnahan’s letter includes requests for more information about who provided Albert with site selection authority after she replaced a previous SSA whose identity has not been disclosed.
The committee also wants more information about what steps were taken to resolve any conflicts of interest related to Albert and whether GSA consulted with the White House, National Security Council, Justice Department, the Office of Government Ethics, OMB and others about the site selection.
The letters follow requests from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and member Gerry Connolly, D-Va., for the GSA inspector general to investigate the decision.
GSA officials told the House subcommittee on Tuesday that they plan to present it with a prospectus outlining plans for the Greenbelt project within 180 days of the decision.