Senate Panel Failed to Find Out About Safavian's Ties to Foreign Agencies

And they (Collins and Lieberman, et al.) went ahead and voted for him unanimously.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/21/AR2005092101496_pf.html


Aide Was Reticent on Lobbying for Foreign Clients

By Susan Schmidt and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; 2:27 PM

David H. Safavian, the Bush administration official arrested Monday, initially failed to disclose lobbying work he had done for several controversial foreign clients when he went before a Senate panel last year to be confirmed as chief of the White House's federal procurement office.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held up Safavian's nomination for more than a year, in part because of lawmakers' concerns about lobbying work for two men later accused of links to suspected terrorist organizations, according to committee documents. Safavian did not disclose his firm's representation of the men until questioned in writing by the committee's staff, and initially failed to tell the panel he had registered as a foreign agent for two controversial African regimes.

The Senate panel nevertheless approved him unanimously and the Senate followed suit on Nov. 21, 2004.

Safavian was arrested Monday on charges of lying and obstructing an investigation into former powerhouse lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. Safavian resigned his government post Friday. His attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said he would contest the charges vigorously. "I think this is a creative use of the criminal code in order to secure my client's cooperation in pending criminal investigations," she said.

"Safavian also told the committee that he had "overlooked" two other clients while preparing his initial submissions for the OMB position. He did not initially mention work as a registered foreign agent for Gabon, a country persistently rated by the United States as having a "poor" human rights record, or his work as a registered foreign agent for Pascal Lissouba, the former president of the Republic of Congo who has been tried in absentia for treason and embezzlement."

snip


"With Abramoff, he also represented the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. protectorate, to try to block the imposition of minimum wage rules."

looks like he had some really swell clients.

these guys continue to amaze me and i don't know why i'm not used to it already.

:shrug: