President Donald Trump met twice with officials over replacing FBI headquarters, watchdog says

Bart Jansen | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump met twice with government officials who decided to build a new FBI headquarters across Pennsylvania Avenue from Trump International Hotel, according to a watchdog report Monday.

But the General Services Administration's inspector general said officials refused to disclose what Trump said in the meetings before and after the decision to keep the FBI offices located near the hotel.

GSA revised its plans Feb. 12 to recommend razing the existing building and erecting a new facility at the site. The agency's previous plan, which had been debated for years, had been to create a new campus in the Washington suburbs.

The agency’s inspector general, Carol Ochoa, reported that GSA Administrator Emily Murphy met with Trump and others in the Oval Office on Jan. 24 to discuss the project. The "free flow discussion" was about demolishing the J. Edgar Hoover Building and rebuilding at the site, Murphy told the inspector general.

Murphy held a second meeting with Trump and others about the project June 15. The topics for discussion included congressional pressure for a new campus and funding challenges for the project estimated at $3.3 billion, the inspector general said.

But GSA officials refused to disclose what Trump said at the meetings, on advice of White House counsel, and could only disclose who attended, the topics of discussion and the outcomes of meetings with the president, according to the inspector general.

The report said the refusal was based on a claim of executive privilege. But Robert Borden, GSA’s chief of staff, denied any claim of executive privilege in a written reply Aug. 10. The refusal was based on instructions not to disclose information about confidential meetings between the president and his senior advisors, Borden wrote.

Trump’s business dealings have long raised concerns among government watchdogs because he didn’t divest his holdings in the Trump Organization when he took office.

Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia said he requested the inspector-general report as the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee because of concerns that changing plans would cost more.

The FBI projected for the inspector general that it would cost $516 million more than estimated to build on the existing site because of non-construction costs, according to the 36-pagereport. The costs include relocating 2,300 of 10,600 workers to other offices in Huntsville, Alabama; Pocatello, Idaho; Quantico, Virginia; and Clarksburg, Virginia.

“Unfortunately, this report substantiates my concerns on all counts,” Connolly said.

But Borden’s reply to the inspector general’s report said the GSA worked diligently with the FBI to ensure the project is managed in the country’s best interest. The decision to stay at the current location resulted from months of meetings with new leadership at the FBI, he said.

“The GSA and FBI representatives attending the January 24 White House meetings had already agreed and decided to locate the new headquarters at 935 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington, D.C.,” Borden wrote.

The president took an interest in the project because of his background in real estate development, White House officials have said.

"POTUS is always interested in building because he knows it better than anyone and has been very successful in it,” press secretary Sarah Sanders told Axios in July. “He's found GSA to be on it, 'very impressive' and 'knowledgeable' are the phrases he has used."

The FBI has occupied the J. Edgar Hoover Building since 1974. With an expanded mission since the terrorist attacks in 2001, the FBI has sought a new headquarters since 2005.

The GSA announced its intention to find a new headquarters in December 2012 but has wrangled for years over costs and options.