Home > Former White House Official Arrested
By MARK SHERMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former Bush administration official was arrested Monday on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to court documents and government officials.
David Safavian, then-chief of staff of the General Services Administration and a former Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with GSA when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, according to an FBI affidavit and the officials.
At the time, FBI agent Jeffrey A. Reising said in the affidavit, a lobbyist - identified separately 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 not-for-profit organization.
For his part, 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.
Safavian took a job in the Office of Management and Budget last year. He resigned that post, effective Friday, OMB spokesman Alex Conant said.
No one answered the phone at a listing for Safavian in Alexandria, Va.
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.