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Politics
Indicted ex-Bush official worked for NIGA, tribes


David Safavian, a former White House official who has been indicted on charges of lying and obstruction, lobbied for the National Indian Gaming Association and other tribes, according to Senate records and The Weekly Standard.

In 1999, Safavian and his firm Janus-Merritt Strategies registered to lobby for NIGA on gaming and tax issues [Registration Form]. NIGA spent less than $10,000 on the firm from January 1 through June 30 [Mid-Year Report] and about $40,000 in work for NIGA from July 1 through December 31 of 1999 [Year-End Report].

In 2000, NIGA spent $60,000 on Safavian's firm from January 1 through June 30 [Mid-Year Report] and another $60,000 from July 1 through December 31 [Year-End Report]

In 2000, Safavian and his firm registered to lobby for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians on gaming and Indian issues [Registration Form]. The tribe spent about $60,000 on the firm from January 1 through June 30 [Mid-Year Report] and $100,000 on the firm from July 1 through December 31 [Year-End Report].

In 1998, Safavian and his firm lobbied for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona on the Indian Health Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs [Registration Form]. The tribe spent around $40,000 from January 1 through June 30 [Mid-Year Report] and $60,000 from July 1 through December 31 [Year-End Report].

Safavian left his lobbying firm in 2001 to work for Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah). He then went to work for the Bush administration, first as chief of staff for the General Services Administration and later as head of procurement policy at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

At the GSA, Safavian was contacted by lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The pair had previously worked together at the Preston Gates firm. By this time, Abramoff was with Greenberg Traurig.

According to The Weekly Standard, Abramoff asked about federal properties on behalf of his Jewish school and on behalf of an unnamed tribal client. "One of the Indian tribes he represented was also looking to buy some property," the magazine says. "Tribal leaders were eyeing the Old Post Office building in downtown D.C., a storied and majestic structure on Pennsylvania Avenue that GSA held in trust."

Safavian then went on one of the infamous overseas trips to Scotland and asked whether the activity would pose an ethical conflict. He told the GSA that a "lobbyist" was sponsoring the trip but that the lobbyist "has no business before GSA," according to the Standard. Later, he told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and federal investigators that Abramoff invited him on the trip but that Abramoff "did not have any business before the agency at that time."

The statements prompted the charges on Safavian's indictment.

Get the Story:
Scandal Season (The Weekly Standard 10/10)
Ex-Cannon aide hit with new obstruction charges (The Salt Lake Tribune 10/7)

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