On Monday, the inspector general for the Government Services Administration, which oversees the federal government's real estate, released a report confirming that President Trump had met at least twice with GSA officials about replacing the FBI headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. At the first meeting in January, participants agreed to pursue razing the FBI headquarters and rebuilding it in the same spot, not build a new campus in suburban Maryland or Virginia, the plan for a decade. The decision was announced a few days later.
In April, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy gave “incomplete” testimony to Congress that "may have left the misleading impression that she had no discussions with White House officials in the decision-making process about the project," though her answers were "literally true," the IG report found. It's not clear what role Trump played in the decision, as GSA employees were instructed by the White House counsel's office "not to disclose any statements made by the president" in the meetings to the inspector general, citing executive privilege — even though the inspector general's office "is part of GSA and within the Executive Branch," the report said.
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