RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Senator Mark Warner says, as far as he's concerned, the deal reached to bring a new FBI headquarters building, along with to Maryland is on hold. The project is stopped dead in its tracks, he said.
He joined with a group of bipartisan lawmakers asking for an investigation into the decision that awarded Greenbelt, Maryland, the project instead of Springfield. He spoke with WUSA9 for the first time since those calls for an investigation.
Both Virginia senators and other leaders on the south side of the Potomac say the whole process reeks of big-league political interference.
"The whole process stinks," Warner said. "I don't get riled up about things very often."
Sen. Warner isn't alone. Republicans and democrats in Virginia joined together to write the letter asking for a GSA Inspector General investigation of the process that passed over Springfield and selected Prince George's County as the FBI's new home. Leaders in the Commonwealth said the decision was "fouled by political considerations and alleged impropriety."
"The reality is this project is not going forward in any form with this cloud overhanging it," Warner said.
Concerns were first raised by FBI Director Christopher Wray. Wray said that a GSA executive named Nina Albert, who now works for Mayor Muriel Bowser, was allegedly biased toward Prince George's County and allegedly had a conflict of interest since she used to work for Metro, and Metro owns the land the federal government has to buy in order to build the new HQ.
"Doesn't anybody really want to know what the folks at the FBI think is the best choice," Wray asked.
We've asked FBI employees and the director's office repeatedly for comment since the news broke about the badly broken J. Edgar Hoover building that currently houses the FBI in D.C. The FBI Director's office has refused our request for interviews.
Meanwhile, Maryland leaders have said repeatedly said the deal is done and the FBI will be built in Greenbelt.
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