Bush aide arrested on corruption charges

Washington Post
Sep. 20, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Bush administration's top federal procurement official resigned Friday and was arrested Monday, accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

It was the first criminal complaint filed against a government official in the ongoing corruption investigation related to Abramoff's dealings with the government.

The complaint filed by the FBI alleges that David Safavian, 38, a White House official involved until last week in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, made repeated false statements to government officials and investigators about a golf trip with Abramoff to Scotland in 2002. It also contends that he concealed his efforts to help Abramoff acquire control of two federally managed properties in the Washington area.

Abramoff is the person identified as "Lobbyist A" in an affidavit unsealed in court Monday, according to sources knowledgeable about the investigation.

Until his resignation on the day the criminal complaint against him was signed, Safavian was the top administrator at the procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.

Abramoff was indicted by federal prosecutors in Miami last month on unrelated charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

He remains the linchpin of an 18-month investigation by a federal task force over allegedly improper dealings with Indian tribes that netted him and an associate at least $82 million in fees.