Safavian Found Guilty... Again

By GottaLaff

Via TPM:

The Associated Press reports:

David Safavian was found guilty of one count of obstruction and three counts of making false statements to investigators. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Safavian, the former top procurement official at the White House, was on trial for lying to investigators about his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. His 2006 conviction on similar charges had been overturned.

AP adds:

Safavian and his lawyers decided this week not to put on a defense, ending their case without calling a single witness or without Safavian testifying.

Buh-bye now, Davey.

Abramoff-linked Safavian gets a legal break

By GottaLaff

[St. Andrews, Scotland, 2002. Jack Abramoff, golf organizer
Jason Murdoch, Ralph Reed, former Bush
administration official David Safavian, and Bob Ney. ]

Abramoff's pal squeaks out a slimy little win, for now:

A federal appeals court struck a blow to the Justice Department’s prosecution of an administration official linked to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned some of the charges against David Safavian, a former chief of staff for the General Services Administration (GSA), The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Safavian was convicted of lying to investigators about his relationship with Abramoff and of trying to conceal his assistance in helping Abramoff clients win government contracts.

Why can't the bad ones be put away, and why must the good ones suffer injustices?