David Safavian, the Bush administration’s top federal procurement officer, was indicted a couple of weeks ago for his role in obstructing a criminal investigation into disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Safavian’s former employer. Yesterday, it got much worse.
David H. Safavian, former chief of White House procurement policy, was indicted yesterday on five counts of lying about his dealings with former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and impeding a Senate investigation of him.
The indictment accuses Safavian, who previously served as former chief of staff for the General Services Administration, of falsely telling GSA officials that Abramoff had no dealings with the agency at a time in 2002, the government alleges, that Abramoff was seeking to obtain use of two GSA properties with Safavian’s assistance.
It also accuses Safavian of repeatedly making false statements to investigators about a golf trip he took with Abramoff to Scotland the same year. GSA ethics rules prohibited receiving gifts from anyone seeking an official action by the agency.
Republicans and criminal indictments just keep running into each other, don’t they?
Keep in mind, the probe that prompted these new charges against Safavian stem from a now-infamous August 2002 golf trip to Scotland, which Abramoff paid for. Also on the trip were House Administration Committee Chairman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition and now a candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia.
Place your bets now on who’ll get indicted next.