{"id":1441827,"date":"2023-12-02T20:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1441827"},"modified":"2023-12-02T20:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T01:10:00","slug":"watchdog-to-probe-fbi-headquarters-selection-process-amid-claims-of-political-bias","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/watchdog-to-probe-fbi-headquarters-selection-process-amid-claims-of-political-bias\/1441827\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog To Probe FBI Headquarters Selection Process Amid Claims Of Political Bias"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watchdog To Probe FBI Headquarters Selection Process Amid Claims Of Political Bias<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times<\/a> (emphasis ours),<\/em><\/p>\n

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the General Services Administration (GSA) will investigate whether politics influenced the agency\u2019s selection process for the location of the FBI’s new headquarters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) headquarters in Washington on Nov. 6, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu\/The Epoch Times)<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The GSA announced on Nov. 9 that it had chosen Greenbelt, Maryland, over two other potential locations.<\/p>\n

The move sparked concern about a \u201cpolitical conflict of interest\u201d from FBI Director Christopher Wray, who wrote in an internal email obtained by The Associated Press that the choice was made after a GSA executive overruled a board to pick land owned by a former employer.<\/p>\n

As one of the other sites in contention was in Springfield, Virginia, that news angered Virginia\u2019s congressional delegation and Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who claimed the process had been \u201ctainted\u201d by politics.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d the officials said in a joint statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have repeatedly condemned political interference in the independent, agency-run site selection process for a new FBI headquarters. <\/strong>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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) raised those concerns in a Nov. 15 letter to the GSA\u2019s Acting Inspector General Robert Erickson. On Nov. 30, he received a reply confirming that an investigation would be launched.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy office is initiating an evaluation of GSA\u2019s selection of the site,\u201d Mr. Erickson wrote. \u201cOur objective will be to assess the agency\u2019s process and procedures for the site selection to relocate the FBI Headquarters. We intend to begin this work immediately and will share with you and the relevant committees a copy of any report which may result from this evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Technically independent, the GSA OIG is a watchdog dedicated to investigating internal matters at the GSA.<\/p>\n

Under Pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to the GSA, the Greenbelt location was selected because it presented \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency added that the chosen location would also provide \u201cthe highest potential to advance sustainability and equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGSA looks forward to building the FBI a state-of-the-art headquarters campus in Greenbelt to advance their critical mission for years to come<\/strong>,\u201d GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The decision followed a sudden change to the selection criteria in July, when the agency announced that it was increasing the weight of cost and social equity in its decision-making process and reducing the importance of transportation and the location\u2019s proximity to other FBI facilities, like its Quantico facility in Virginia.<\/p>\n

The changes were made after officials in Maryland argued that convenience had been weighted too heavily as a factor\u2014a fact Virginia officials pointed to as evidence that the decision was \u201cfouled by politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Praising Mr. Erickson\u2019s decision to open an investigation, Virginia\u2019s congressional delegation agreed it was the \u201cappropriate next step.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe applaud the inspector general for moving quickly and encourage him to move forward to complete a careful and thorough review,\u201d they said in a joint statement<\/a>. \u201cIn the meantime, the GSA must pause all activities related to the relocation until the IG\u2019s investigation is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 12\/02\/2023 – 15:10<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/watchdog-probe-fbi-headquarters-selection-process-amid-claims-political-bias<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watchdog To Probe FBI Headquarters Selection Process Amid Claims Of Political Bias Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), The Office of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-635h","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}