"The IG report outlines how GSA and FBI officials misled Congress by hiding more than half a billion dollars of expenses related to demolishing and rebuilding the Hoover [FBI headquarters] Building so they could make such a project look less expensive than a fully consolidated campus headquarters," US Senator Ben Cardin said in a press release on Wednesday. US Senators Chris Van Hollen and Sheldon Whitehouse joined Cardin in issuing the release.
“Given the findings in the Inspector General’s (IG) report and the President’s conflicts of interest, evidence of Trump’s culture of corruption is staring us in the face. Congress must immediately launch a full investigation to establish what happened with the FBI headquarters project and what influence the President exerted,” Beyer said in a statement.
The plan for such a move had been in place for around 14 years, but in the summer of 2017, the Trump administration abruptly changed direction, deciding to tear down the existing FBI headquarters and construct a new building at the same location.
In particular, the new plan called for building a new structure on the site, which is adjacent to the Trump International Hotel a short walk from the White House, and the value of the president's property could change as a result of the new plan.
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The report also concluded that GSA Administrator Emily Murphy may have misled Congress by failing to disclose, when asked about Trump’s involvement, that she had met with the president about the revised plan
