Ex-White House Aide Charged in Corruption Case

The New York Times ^ | September 20, 2005 | PHILIP SHENON and ANNE E. KORNBLUT

[4mor3]

September 20, 2005 Ex-White House Aide Charged in Corruption Case By PHILIP SHENON and ANNE E. KORNBLUT WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 - A senior White House budget official who resigned abruptly last week was arrested Monday on charges of lying to investigators and obstructing a federal inquiry involving Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist who has been under scrutiny by the Justice Department for more than a year.

The arrest of the official, David H. Safavian, head of procurement policy at the Office of Management and Budget, was the first to result from the wide-ranging corruption investigation of Mr. Abramoff, once among the most powerful and best-paid lobbyists in Washington and a close friend of Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority leader.

[MJY1288]

LOL, The OMB is not part of the White House Staff

[theDentist]

NYT must've seen this story and giggled "Oooo! We can prove corruption is in the White House and Tom Delay with the same charge!", completely ignoring his Democratic ties.

[MJY1288]

The notion that anybody form the OMB is part of the White House staff is laughable

[NormsRevenge]

ap earlier today

Former White House Official Arrested (David Safavian,former GSA chief/Abramoff lobbying associate)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1487604/posts

[Luigi Vasellini]

Much worse than Sandy Burglar /src/

[drjimmy]

LOL, The OMB is not part of the White House Staff

Uh, yeah it is.

[lugsoul]

RIF. He was at GSA before he went to OMB.

[MJY1288]

Has Bush nominated anyone to OMB or is it independent from the political process?

[SquirrelKing]

Jack Abramoff

Wonder if he's related to Jack Meoff?

[KoRn]

I wonder what % of people in the Washington 'political class' aren't criminal in some way, morally or legally? Be it on 'our side' or 'theirs' I view them as nothing more than a bunch of power hungry crooked people. I happen to philosophically agree with the ones who happen to be in 'power' at the present time.

[drjimmy]

Has Bush nominated anyone to OMB or is it independent from the political process?

Bush nominated the director of OMB, the OMB has Cabinet-level rank, and it is within the Executive Office of the President. It is absolutely part of the White House and a political appointment.

[msnimje]

LOL, The OMB is not part of the White House Staff

BUT, he does live in a white house on Main Street.

[Cicero]

The Web Site suggests that OMB is part of the Office of the President. Indeed, check out the URL:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

[MJY1288]

I should have been more clear.... Isn't this fellow part of the Statutory Offices and not a political appointee?.

I understand that Josh Bolton is the Director of OMB and he was appointed by GWB, but that's like saying Bush appointed everyone in the State Department. From what I can gather this guy is a career bureaucrat

[drjimmy]

I understand that Josh Bolton is the Director of OMB and he was appointed by GWB, but that's like saying Bush appointed everyone in the State Department. From what I can gather this guy is a career bureaucrat.

If you're talking about Safavian, this is not the resume of a career bureaucrat: "Like Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Safavian, a former Congressional aide, has extensive ties to prominent Republicans on Capitol Hill, throughout the executive branch and among the city's lobbying firms. He helped start Janus-Merritt Strategies, a consulting firm, with Grover G. Norquist, the head of the conservative advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform and a close political ally of the Bush administration. Mr. Safavian worked with Mr. Abramoff in the Washington lobbying offices of Preston Gates & Ellis, a Seattle-based firm."

And Safavian was directly nominated by President Bush to his post as director of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in OMB.

[MJY1288]

OK, I stand corrected, Thanks!

[ClaireSolt]

This is not a good sign. If he is an up and coming of the level of Brown at FEMA, it indicates weakness and flab in a party that has been very lean.

[drjimmy]

Happy to be of service. In thinking that OMB was independent of the White House, you may have been confusing it with the GSA (General Services Administration), where Safavian had also worked.

[MJY1288]

Actually, I think I confused the CBO with the OMB, MY BAD :-(