Bush Management and Budget Procurement Boss Quits---Then is Arrested

from a Raw Story report by John Byrne [excerpts, emphasis added]

David Safavian, who oversees $300 billion of annual federal purchasing as director of the Office of Procurement Policy, has been arrested for three criminal charges relating to obstruction of a federal investigation. He resigned quietly last Friday.

The indictment refers to a 2002 trip arranged by Jack Abramoff, a Washington power lobbyist who arranged a trip to Scotland that took powerful House Rep. Bob Ney golfing. Abramoff was joined on the trip by former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed and David Safavian.

According to the charges, Safavian "allegedly aided a Washington, D.C., lobbyist in the lobbyist's attempts to acquire GSA-controlled property in and around Washington, D.C."

GSA refers to the General Services Administration, which oversees employee purchasing and leasing of federal buildings.

Though indictments for criminal misdoings are not uncommon, the physical arrest of an administration official is rare.

Safavian was a longtime friend of Abramoff. They worked together on the Mississippi Choctaw tribal account. Abramoff now stands accused of bilking the Choctaws out of millions of dollars, though Safavian has not been cited in any wrongdoing.