The Muckraker's Reference Section
David Safavian
David Safavian was the chief of staff of the General Services Administration (GSA) and later the head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. He resigned from that position on Friday, September 16, 2005, prior to his arrest on Monday, September 19 for lying and obstructing the investigation into the dealings of Jack Abramoff. He was indicted on October 5, 2005 and went to trial on May 22, 2006. On June 20, 2006, a jury convicted Safavian on four of five counts. He has since appealed the decision, arguing that some of the evidence used during the trial was impermissible.
An Iranian-American trained as a tax lawyer, Safavian worked as a lobbyist with Jack Abramoff during the 1990s at the law firm of Preston Gates and Ellis. From 1995 to 1997, Abramoff and Safavian worked closely together at Preston Gates on the accounts of the exiled government of Macedonia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Microsoft Corporation, among others.
See Safavian's Grand Ole Docket entry for ongoing court dates.
Key Points:
While at GSA, Safavian was Abramoff's man on the inside, repeatedly passing him information that could help his clients.
In July 2002, Abramoff was seeking to acquire two properties administered by the GSA on behalf of tribal clients. Safavian emailed Abramoff tips, forwarded him internal government discussions, and gave him advice on how to do it. He also helped Abramoff draft a letter that Reps. Don Young (R-AK) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) sent to the GSA that would have helped Abramoff's clients acquire the property.
In November, 2003, Safavian notified Abramoff that the GSA was about to suspend the federal contracts of four subsidiaries of one of his clients, Tyco International. Abramoff alerted the company. Federal prosecutors allege that Safavian provided "sensitive and confidential information" to Abramoff about the GSA decision, as well as advice on how Abramoff could salvage Tyco's suspended contracts.
Safavian lied and obstructed justice in the government's investigation of Abramoff.
Safavian was indicted for making false statements to Senate investigators and GSA ethics officials regarding a golf trip Safavian took to Scotland in 2002 with Abramoff, Rep. Robert Ney (R-OH), and Ralph Reed. He said that Abramoff had no business before the GSA at the time, when in fact he was busily helping Abramoff acquire the two GSA properties.
Safavian was very close to Grover Norquist.
In 1997, Safavian and Grover Norquist founded a lobbying firm called the Merritt Group, later renamed Janus-Merritt Strategies. The firm's clients included BP America and Saginaw Chippewa (gaming interests). Safavian also served on the board of Norquist's Islamic Free Market Institute, which shares an office with Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.
Research by Asheesh Siddique
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