The
WaPo reports:
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave his client Tyco International an early warning in 2003 that the government was about to suspend Tyco's federal contracts -- inside information he received from a General Services Administration official now under indictment, federal prosecutors alleged yesterday.
David H. Safavian, who has been charged with obstructing the Abramoff corruption investigation, alerted Abramoff in November 2003 that the GSA was about to suspend the contracts of four Tyco subsidiaries, prosecutors said in court papers. Safavian provided "sensitive and confidential information" about internal GSA deliberations, as well as advice about how to get around the suspension, the prosecutors said.
More inside.
David Safavian, for those not familiar, is better known as the first White House official to be implicated in the Abramoff scandal. On Friday September 16, 2005, Safavian resigned from his post as head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. On Monday, Safavian was arrested for obstruction of justice and making false statements.
From mid-2002 to early 2004, Safavian was head of the General Services Administration. With zero procurement experience, ThinkProgress rightly called him 'the Mike Brown of Contract Procurement'. Safavian went on one of Jack Abramoff's lavish junkets to Scotland in 2002. It was previously thought that the main reason behind Safavian's obstruction was because he had neglicted to disclose that Abramoff had business before Safavian at the GSA. Indeed, an Abramoff e-mail admittedly notes that Safavian's inclusion in the trip was a 'total business angle'. The new revelations suggest a much more extensive connection between the two.
The GSA spokesman also noted that no one at Tyco has been alleged of any wrongdoing.
The filing strengthens the purported motive which Safavian would have had to lie to investigators and obstruct justice in the investigation. A trial date in set for April. The question is - will Safavian cut a deal? If so, what valuable information would he have?
Hard to tell. Safavian is a former lobbyist himself, having worked at Preston Gates with Abramoff years ago. Safavian also helped Grover Norquist establish Janus-Merritt Strategies, a 'consulting firm'. Perhaps his reported experience lobbying for Middle Eastern extremists? Maybe even his time as chief of staff for Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT). Your guess is as good as mine.
Either way, this makes it even more important that the Bush administration appoints a special prosecutor to probe all of Abramoff's ties to members of Congress and the executive branch.