The Safavian/Abramoff scandal: A Katrina connection?

No doubt you're following the scandal surrounding White House procurement honcho David Safavian and Tom DeLay-crony-turned-super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff's the guy who -- among many other sleazy things -- refers to his own Native American clients as "monkeys" and "troglodytes." The Washington Post account is here; Raw Story fills in the extra details.

The Safavian arrest seems to be over a fairly dull ethical lapse, important primarily for the fact that now authorities can pressure him into turning on Abramoff -- and perhaps on Grover Norquist, DeLay, and Bush himself. (No harm in hoping, right?) In other words, the authorities may finally be going after the Bush crime gang, employing the same strategy used to bring down any other OC enterprise.

The Post covers Safavian's involvement with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, which must not be the proudest item on that man's resume -- especially when you consider the no-bid contract that went to Haliburton. Perhaps someone might like to ask Safavian about that.

In that light, note the following from the report in the New York Times:

"His wife, Jennifer Safavian, is chief counsel for oversight and investigations on the House Government Reform Committee, which is responsible for overseeing government procurement and is, among other things, expected to conduct the Congressional investigation into missteps after Hurricane Katrina."

Now, let's not construct a massive conspiracy theory based on that one sentence. But do keep that sentence in mind as more stories come out. I mean, if there was something less-than-legal about that no-bid Haliburton contract, then we have every reason to ask why and how Jennikins got that job.

The NYT account brings up another issue:

The department also did not say why the criminal charges were brought directly by prosecutors, rather than by the Washington grand jury investigating Mr. Abramoff. The Justice Department often bypasses a grand jury when a criminal case is brought together hurriedly or when there is fear that a defendant may try to flee.

Was Safavian a flight risk? Hard to imagine a guy going directly from a prestigious White House gig to a furtive life on the run, skulking around some South American country with no extradition treaty. So the question then becomes: Why the hurry?

Paranoid thought of the day: Maybe the intention is to prevent Safavian from coming before the Abramoff grand jury? I'm not sure how such a thing could be arranged -- but who knows what strategem Alberto Gonzales might cobble together?