Three More Lawmakers Linked to Abramoff
Three More Lawmakers Linked to Abramoff
By TONI LOCY and PETE YOST, Associated Press Writers
Sat Feb 11, 7:28 AM ET
Three members of Congress have been linked to efforts by lobbyist Jack
Abramoff and a former General Services Administration official to secure leases of
government property for Abramoff’s clients, according to court filings by
federal prosecutors on Friday.
The filings in U.S. District Court do not allege any wrongdoing by the
elected officials but list them in documents portraying David Safavian, a former
GSA chief of staff, as an active adviser to Abramoff, giving the lobbyists tips
on how to use members of Congress to navigate the agency’s bureaucracy.
Abramoff is cooperating with federal investigators in a wide-ranging probe
of corruption on Capitol Hill that threatens several powerful members of
Congress and their staff members. Last month, he pleaded guilty to federal charges
of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud.
Safavian is charged with lying to a GSA ethics officer when he said Abramoff
was not seeking business with the agency at the time the lobbyist paid for
Safavian and several others to go on a golf outing to Scotland in August 2002.
At the time of the trip, prosecutors said, Abramoff was trying to get GSA
approval for leases of the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington for an Indian
tribe to develop and for federal property in Silver Spring, Md., for use by a
Jewish school.
Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday’s filings have been
identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young,
R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two
representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give
preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development
proposals for the Old Post Office.
LaTourette maintains he did nothing improper by advocating special
opportunities for certain small businesses in areas known as HUBzones, or Historically
Underutilized Business zones. His spokeswoman, Deborah Setliff, said that
the letter was reviewed by Young’s chief of staff and counsel and that it did
not advocate any particular business over another.
A spokesman for Young did not return telephone calls.
Friday’s filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep.
Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was
trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a
religious school.
Capito claims to know nothing about the effort. “The action taken by her
former chief of staff was done without her knowledge, approval or consent,” said
her spokesman, Joel Brubaker. “She was not aware of any contact with GSA of
any type on this matter.”
Mark Johnson, Capito’s former chief of staff, said he did not bring the
issue to Capito’s attention. He said he was contacted by Neil Volz, a colleague
of Abramoff’s and a former chief of staff for Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting
record), R-Ohio.
Johnson said Volz asked him to check on the status of a project involving
the GSA. Johnson said he believes he called a friend at the GSA but doesn’t
recall the outcome.
Prosecutors included the e-mails in documents filed in response to a request
by Safavian’s lawyers to dismiss the indictment against him. Safavian’s
lawyers want a federal judge to throw out the charges on grounds there is no
evidence of wrongdoing.
In their filing, prosecutors laid out a series of contacts between Abramoff
and Safavian that show the former GSA official gave inside information and
advice to the lobbyist.
Safavian used his personal e-mail during business hours to communicate with
Abramoff several times, according to prosecutors. He also edited the draft of
a letter that was probably sent under LaTourette and Young’s names.
And Safavian advised Abramoff to tell his wife to use her maiden name during
a meeting with GSA officials so she wouldn’t draw attention to her
politically connected husband’s involvement in the project.
In a July 23, 2002, e-mail to a GSA official, Safavian discussed getting
information about the Silver Spring site to Capito’s office. But Volz discovered
a complication the next day.
Volz told Abramoff that someone at the GSA wanted the congresswoman to put
her request in writing. “We can’t ask the most vulnerable Republican incumbent
member of Congress in the House to put something in writing that can be made
public,” Volz wrote. “The congresswoman’s office has already put the request
in and you would think that would be enough!!!”
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Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.