Crony Soprano

Better open your umbrella, it's an indicment shower:

"David Safavian, who was chief of procurement policy in the Bush administration's Office of Management and Budget until late last week, was arrested Monday on charges of making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation. Safavian is charged with making false statements to a General Services Administration ethics officer and the GSA inspector general's office. Safavian served as chief of staff at GSA before moving to OMB."

From Government Executive. The whole story. Also the Washington Post reports it here.

And this from when the crony was hired in June, 2004:

"-- But in federal acquisition circles, Safavian, President Bush's pick to oversee federal procurement policy at the Office of Management and Budget, is still something of an unknown.

"He doesn't have a lot of background in procurement, so the hope is that he's a good learner," says Steven Kelman, who served as federal procurement administrator in the Clinton administration. "I don't know where David Safavian comes out on [acquisition reform]," says Allan Burman, another former procurement chief. Angela Styles, who held the top acquisition post until last September, says Safavian has "no apparent philosophy" on procurement issues. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee approved Safavian's nomination on June 2."

More.

See, the thing of it is, his boss when he was a lobbyist, before he was moved to the government job? Was the lobbyist Jack Abrahamoff, also recently arrested:

MIAMI, Aug. 11 -- Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a business partner were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in their purchase of a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a businessman who was later killed in a gangland-style hit. - washington post.

And what's really a victory for the moral values crowd, is that this Washington elitist, friend and business partner of Tom DeLay, is not arrested for any of his government lobbyist corruption cases which are pending, but a Tony Soprano's style F-up in the world of off shore crime.

So, anyone see a pattern here yet?

Do we build a new jail just to house BushCo's mountain of crony's who are dropping like flies?

(Hat-tip to Al Franken Blog)

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