Maryland Governor Defends Choice of New FBI HQ After Lawmakers Raise Concerns

The FBI headquarters in Washington on Nov. 6, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has defended the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) decision to select Greenbelt, Maryland as the FBI’s new headquarters over another potential site in Springfield, Virginia, after the move was criticized by some lawmakers in the latter state.

Speaking to CNN on Nov. 9, Mr. Moore reiterated comments he made earlier this week when the decision was announced, explaining that the GSA had gone through a “thorough deliberation process” before picking the Greenbelt site.

“This has been an over-decade-long process that GSA has conducted, it has been thorough and has been transparent,” the Maryland governor told CNN.

Mr. Moore added that the new headquarters, which will reportedly be built on an empty 61-acre plot outside the Greenbelt Metro station, had met all of the GSA criteria except for its proximity to the FBI’s Quantico, based in Virginia.

His comments come after the GSA, which oversees the management and development of federal properties, announced on Wednesday that it had determined Greenbelt to be the “best site” for the new FBI headquarters, citing the lowest cost to taxpayers, best transportation access to FBI employees and visitors, and more “certainty” regarding the project’s delivery schedule.

The decision ends a years-long search for new headquarters for the government agency, which has been based in the crumbling J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown Washington since 1975.

“It also provided the highest potential to advance sustainability and equity,” a GSA spokesperson said when announcing the new headquarters.

Maryland Democrat Wes Moore talks to reporters in Owings Mills, Md., on June 6, 2022. Brian Witte, File/AP Photo

‘Political Interference’

While Maryland officials praised the decision, calling it a “historic moment“ for the FBI and the United States, officials in Virginia were quick to raise concerns and claimed that political interference had tainted an established GSA process.

“We are deeply disturbed to learn that a political appointee at the General Services Administration overruled the unanimous recommendation of a three-person panel comprised of career experts from the GSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation concluding that Springfield, Virginia, is the site best suited for the new FBI headquarters,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin,  Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), and eight members of Virginia’s House of Representatives said in a joint statement Thursday.

Officials also called for the GSA’s decision to be reversed.

“We have repeatedly condemned political interference in the independent, agency-run site selection process for a new FBI headquarters. Any fair weighing of the criteria points to a selection of Virginia. It is clear that this process has been irrevocably undermined and tainted, and this decision must now be reversed,” the statement added.

Their call for a reversal of the decision came after FBI Director Christopher Wray also criticized the GSA’s choice of Greenbelt in a letter to FBI employees dated Nov. 9, and raised concerns about “fairness and transparency” and what he said was “GSA’s failure to adhere to its own site selection plan.”

The FBI headquarters in Washington on Nov. 6, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

FBI Concerns Over Process ‘Remain Unresolved’

In his letter, Mr. Wray stressed that the FBI and GSA had worked closely on the decision regarding the new headquarters but that the law enforcement agency had “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,” he wrote.

“There are still a lot of open questions, and we’ve still got a long way to go. But ultimately, our focus will remain on doing everything we can to ensure the FBI has a Headquarters that best meets the needs of our workforce, our mission, and the American people,” the FBI director concluded.

However, the GSA disputed Mr. Wray’s allegations in a Nov. 9 statement, saying the agency had “spent countless hours” working with the FBI regarding the decision over many months and was “disappointed that the FBI Director is now making inaccurate claims directed at our agency, our employees, and our site selection plan and process.”

“Any suggestion that there was inappropriate interference is unfounded,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “The choice of Greenbelt, Maryland, is fully consistent with the decision-making process as well as all laws, regulations, and ethical considerations.”

Mr. Carnahan added that the GSA stands 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.”

Officials have not yet said who will develop the new FBI headquarters, although it is expected to take several years to construct and requires funding from Congress.