A former federal government official who had outsize influence over the decision to move the FBI's headquarters to Maryland is drawing scrutiny after Director Christopher Wray said the official had a"potential conflict of interest" with the process.
Although he did not use her name, he made clear his concern was with her affiliation with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. Albert was a vice president at the WMATA before she left in July 2021 to join the GSA. Wray told his employees that"the FBI raised a serious concern about the appearance of a lack of impartiality by the GSA senior executive given the executive’s previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site."
He said the GSA went ahead with announcing the decision"without meaningfully addressing the FBI's concerns."