Former Bush Administration Figure Convicted

Justice may grind slowly in Washington in these days of Republican dominance but things are happening that do not bode well for the image of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. MSNBC has the story on the conviction of David Safavian who was the chief of staff at the General Services Administration:

A jury Tuesday convicted a former Bush administration official of four counts of lying and obstructing justice in the first trial to be held in connection with the influence-peddling scandal of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He had resigned from his White House post last year as the federal government’s chief procurement officer.

The verdict gave a boost to the wide-ranging influence peddling probe that focuses on Abramoff’s dealings with Congress.

There's more on the trial at TPMMuckraker and the Los Angeles Times. I can't help wondering if anyone at Las Vegas will be taking bets on how soon Bush will pardon David Safavian after the midterm elections.

I think it's important to keep in mind that Congress has refused to investigate dozens of questionable transactions that have involved Republican members of Congress as well as scores of transactions that have involved the Bush administration in the last five years; the total money involved runs in the billions of dollars. And Halliburton remains largely untouched by any significant investigations. There is good reason to believe that Jack Abramoff and Rep. Cunningham were only the tip of the iceberg.