A Washington Sand Trap:A golf outing trips up a widening circle of power b

[NVMojo]

(Gee, it's fun to know that Bush buddies are getting what they dish out!)

Oct. 3, 2005 issue - David Safavian wasn't expecting visitors. A relatively senior White House official—he oversaw federal contracts for the Office of Management and Budget—the 38-year-old Safavian had been working around the clock on Katrina relief. But at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, a team of FBI agents showed up at his house and arrested him. The Feds wanted to know if Safavian would be willing to cooperate in an ongoing corruption probe surrounding his friend, lobbyist Jack Abramoff. According to Safavian's lawyer, no deal was struck. Safavian was then charged with lying to the FBI and obstructing an investigation.

Safavian's arrest is the most dramatic sign yet that the long-running Justice probe is gathering momentum. Safavian's misfortune, one shared by many in Washington, was his relationship with Abramoff, the brash GOP superlobbyist known for his close ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Abramoff, recently indicted in Miami on wire-fraud charges (he pleaded not guilty), stands accused in Senate testimony of cheating his Indian-casino clients out of tens of millions of dollars in fees that he allegedly diverted to personal and political causes. Safavian's dealings with Abramoff, and new documents reviewed by NEWSWEEK, may add to the unseemly picture.

Cool and cocky, Safavian had been one of Abramoff's lobbying partners. He joined the Bush administration in 2002, as chief of staff of the General Services Administration. According to the Feds' complaint, Abramoff invited Safavian to participate in a trip to Scotland that summer to play golf at the world-famous St. Andrews course. Total tab: $100,000. Safavian received prior approval from his agency's ethics officer. But the Feds say he had neglected to mention that Abramoff at the time was seeking to lease property from the GSA and had sought Safavian's help. When a whistle-blower's complaint led to an inquiry, Safavian falsely told the GSA inspector general, and later the FBI, that Abramoff had "no business" before the agency, the Feds charge. (Safavian's lawyer denied that Abramoff's leasing efforts constituted "business" before the GSA and noted that Safavian reimbursed Abramoff $3,100 for the trip. Abramoff's lawyer declined to comment.)

Safavian, it turns out, isn't the only one who could get tripped up by Abramoff's golfing jaunt. According to a cache of Abramoff's e-mails released last year, the lobbyist planned the trip as a favor for Ohio Rep. Robert Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee. In a June 2002 e-mail to one of his Indian-casino clients, Abramoff noted that "our friend " had "asked if we could help (as in cover) a Scotland golf trip for him and some staff." At the time, Ney had agreed to back legislation that would help Abramoff's client, the Tigua tribe of Texas, to reopen a casino. It is against House ethics rules for members to take trips paid for by lobbyists. On a House disclosure form, Ney reported that the Scotland trip was sponsored by a conservative think tank, and that its "official" purpose included giving a "speech to Scottish Parliamentarians" and visiting the British Parliament during a London stopover.

more...

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9470786/site/newsweek/

[opihimoimoi]

1. I hope the investigation bears fruit

[NVMojo]

3. Americans aren't paying attention, that's why it may go nowhere and

that's why nothing ever happens that should.

[opihimoimoi]

4. Change begins w the first step...many step so far....we are on the

right/best plan....

[loudsue]

2. This is gonna be just one of the things to surround the republican mafia

There is SO much criminality in the republican party! Everywhere you look, they're more crooked than a pig's tail.

I hope the investigations go deep, and expose much. And then I pray that ALL OF THE REPUBLICANS involved are prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

If there IS any justice in this world, they should all be sent to jail.

:kick::kick::kick:

[yellowcanine]

5. This is going to take down Ney, DeLay, Ralph Reed and Grover. How good

is that? And Fristy has his tail caught in an insider trader crack. Be still my beating heart.

[Booster]

6. Bush better take some time off to start his list of people he wants

to pardon. He's going to busier at the end of his term than he's been during the rest of it.

[antonialee839]

7. This is so retro. Next thing you know, Bush will be

telling us he's not a crook, but we know better.