The Washington Post reported Saturday that court papers show that David H. Safavian, former general counsel at the General Services Administration, tipped off fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff that Tyco, one of Abramoff's clients, was about to have its government contracts suspended.
In the Post story, Tyco's lawyer George Terwilliger admits that the tip, which Abramoff in turn passed onto Tyco, was of "substantial benefit" (Those are the Post's words; What did Terwilliger actually say?) since it allowed the company through its law firm McKenna, Long and Aldridge to address the GSA's concerns before the suspension went into effect. In the New York Times story Sunday, Terwilliger said something quite different; in his words: "Any benefit to Tyco was incremental at best, because company officials were due to get a formal notice from G.S.A.. [POGO's emphasis]" Which was it? In both stories, Terwilliger said that Tyco did not solicit the tip.
Remember that the Justice Department also said back in September that Safavian “allegedly aided a Washington D.C. lobbyist in the lobbyist's attempts to acquire GSA-controlled property in and around Washington, D.C." Also, don't forget that Abramoff had a man on the inside at the Interior Department with Steven Griles.
So it looks like this a second example of Safavian helping out Abramoff from the inside of GSA. Later on, did Safavian help Abramoff out when he was at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy? Are there any other agency officials who were helping out Abramoff or other lobbyists? Do you have any clues? Send us a tip if you do.
What about Safavian's wife who works on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee for Tom Davis? Anything there that deserves a little sunlight?
Posted by: Frank Jr. | Jan 31, 2006 at 06:54 PM