David Safavian: Charged with Obstruction of
Justice
CBS
Obstruction Charge For Ex-WH Aide
Sept. 20, 2005
(AP) A former Bush administration official is charged with making false
statements and obstructing a federal investigation into his dealings with
lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
David Safavian, a former chief of staff of the General Services
Administration and Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal
investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with the government when
Safavian, a GSA official at the time, joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in
2002, according to an FBI affidavit and government officials.
FBI agent Jeffrey A. Reising said in the affidavit that a lobbyist —
identified elsewhere as Abramoff — had enlisted Safavian's help in trying
to gain control of 40 acres of land at the Federal Research Center at White Oak
in Silver Spring, Md., for a private high school that Abramoff helped
establish.
Safavian edited a letter the lobbyist was preparing to send to GSA, and
arranged and attended a meeting involving a GSA official, the lobbyist's wife
and others to discuss leasing the property, the affidavit said.
Abramoff told his wife to use her maiden name at the meeting because
Safavian sought to play down Abramoff's involvement, the affidavit said, citing
an e-mail from Abramoff.
Safavian was given clearance to go on the August 2002 golf trip after
telling GSA's ethics officer that the lobbyist "has no business before GSA,"
the affidavit said.
Nine people, including Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, made the trip and played golf
on the fabled Old Course at St. Andrews. Safavian paid $3,100 for the travel,
"in the exercise of discretion," he said, as quoted in the affidavit. The total
cost was more than $100,000, the affidavit said.
Safavian moved to the Office of Management and Budget last year, becoming
the administration's top procurement official. He resigned that post, effective
Friday, OMB spokesman Alex Conant said.
No one answered the phone at a listing for Safavian in Alexandria, Va.
Safavian worked with Abramoff on the team at the Preston, Gates & Ellis
law firm that was lobbying to keep the Northern Mariana Islands free from
certain U.S. labor and immigration laws during the last half of the 1990s.
Abramoff is not named in the affidavit, but two government officials
confirmed he is the person referred to in the affidavit as Lobbyist A. They
spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under
way.
In addition, Safavian was asked in February for information about the golf
trip by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. Both the Senate panel and a
federal grand jury are investigating deals in which Abramoff and an associate
received at least $66 million from six Indian tribes to lobby for their casinos
and other interests. The tribes question whether the charges were
excessive.
Congressional Democrats have raised questions about Abramoff's ties to House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. The congressman has asked the House Ethics
Committee to review allegations that Abramoff or his clients paid some of
DeLay's overseas travel expenses. DeLay has denied knowing that the expenses
were paid by the lobbyist.
Separately, Abramoff has pleaded innocent to a six-count federal fraud and
conspiracy indictment stemming from his role in the 2000 purchase of a fleet of
gambling boats in Florida.
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