Just the tip of the Iceberg
Feds Want Ex-White House Official's Cooperation in Abramoff Probe, Lawyer Says
By Mark Sherman Associated Press Writer
Published: Sep 22, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - The lawyer for a former Bush administration official arrested this week says authorities are using the charges to pressure her client to aid their investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
David Safavian was arrested Monday and charged with making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation relating to a 2002 golf outing to Scotland with Abramoff, former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and others.
Safavian hid from investigators that Abramoff had business before the General Services Administration, where Safavian was chief of staff in 2002, when they took their Scotland trip, according to federal authorities.
Barbara Van Gelder, Safavian's lawyer, said her client would fight the charges. He accurately reported that Abramoff was not doing business with GSA at the time of the trip, Van Gelder said.
"This is a creative use of the criminal code to secure his cooperation against someone else," Van Gelder said in an interview Wednesday.
Safavian, a former Abramoff lobbying associate, abruptly resigned last week as the Bush administration's top procurement official, three days before his arrest.