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GSA Inspector General launches investigation into site selection process of FBI headquarters

Rebecca Barnabi
FBI HQ
Courtesy of office of Sen. Mark R. Warner.

Ask and ye shall receive.

The Inspector General of the General Services Administration has launched an investigation into the site chosen for the new FBI headquarters.

Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, and Reps. Don Beyer, Gerry Connolly, Morgan Griffith, Jen Kiggans, Jennifer McClellan, Bobby Scott, Abigail Spanberger, Jennifer Wexton and Rob Wittman welcomed news yesterday that the Inspector General (IG) of the General Services Administration (GSA) will initiate an investigation into the site selection to relocate the new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters.

The lawmakers wrote to GSA before Thanksgiving with request for an investigation after Greenbelt, Md. was chosen over Springfield, Virginia for the site of the new FBI headquarters. The members wrote that the facts “paint an ugly picture of a fatally flawed procurement that demands further investigation.”

“Given the overwhelming evidence suggesting that the General Services Administration (GSA) administered a site selection process fouled by politics, we agree that an inspector general investigation is the appropriate next step. We applaud the inspector general for moving quickly and encourage him to move forward to complete a careful and thorough review. In the meantime, the GSA must pause all activities related to the relocation until the IG’s investigation is complete,” the lawmakers said yesterday.

Virginia lawmakers want investigation after Springfield loses FBI HQ bid – Augusta Free Press

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca Barnabi

Rebecca J. Barnabi is the national editor of Augusta Free Press. A graduate of the University of Mary Washington, she began her journalism career at The Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star. In 2013, she was awarded first place for feature writing in the Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia Awards Program, and was honored by the Virginia School Boards Association’s 2019 Media Honor Roll Program for her coverage of Waynesboro Schools. Her background in newspapers includes writing about features, local government, education and the arts.