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Justice Watchdog to Probe FBI Role in Dropping Plan to Move Headquarters

Reuters

   The U.S. Justice Department'swatchdog will review the role of the FBI
   and Justice Departmentin a reversal of plans to move FBI headquarters
   to theWashington suburbs, Democratic congressional leaders
   saidWednesday.

   The department's inspector general informed House committeeleaders of
   the review in a letter on Tuesday after twocommittees had pushed him to
   investigate the reversal.

   The leaders of four House committees, including Oversightand
   Transportation, who are pursuing their own investigations into the
   shift of FBI headquarters plans, said in a statementthey welcomed the
   watchdog's examination.

   Before he was elected, U.S. President Donald Trump hadfavored a
   government plan to move FBI headquarters from downtownWashington, where
   it is housed in a crumbling building adornedwith safety nets to catch
   falling chunks of concrete. It is alsotoo small for the bureau's
   thousands of local employees.

   Current preference

   Trump now favors replacing the building with a new structurein the same
   location.

   Democrats have alleged that Trump, a real estate developerbefore
   becoming president, had expressed interest in the FBI'smove so he could
   buy the land where the current headquarterssits and redevelop it.

   The Democrats say Trump, who owns a hotel down the streetfrom the
   current FBI building, changed his position on theheadquarters move
   after he became president and was disqualifiedfrom bidding for the
   land.

   The watchdog for the U.S. General Services Administration(GSA), which
   manages federal buildings, said last year that therevised plan would be
   more expensive than the original proposalto move the headquarters.

   The GSA's inspector general also found that the GSAadministrator had
   not disclosed a meeting with the president onthe subject.

   The White House and the GSA did not immediately respond to arequest for
   comment. The Justice Department declined to comment.

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