FederalDaily - October 31, 2006
Ex-GSA Staffer Sentenced to Prison
Former General Services Administration (GSA) Chief of Staff David Safavian was sentenced to 18 months
in prison for his part in the influence-peddling scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Safavian
was sentenced on Oct. 27 by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman on federal charges of obstructing a GSA
proceeding and making false statements, said U.S. Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher. A jury convicted
Safavian on June 20 of four charges stemming from false statements Safavian made about his relationship
with former high-flying lobbyist Abramoff. The jury heard evidence at trial that Safavian made a false
statement to a GSA ethics officer claiming that Abramoff had no business with GSA at the time Safavian
was planning to travel with the lobbyist to Scotland. The jury found that Safavian concealed the fact
that Abramoff had business before the GSA prior to the August 2002 golf trip and that Safavian was
aiding Abramoff in his attempts to do business with GSA, the Department of Justice said. To see more,
go to: www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/October/06_crm_733.html
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Lawmaker Urges Caution in Wake of Clearance Report
House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., is urging caution in the interpretation
of a government report highly critical of the delay-fraught government security clearance system. The
Government Accountability Office looked at the Department of Defense (DoD) clearance system and whether
the Office of Management & Budget needs to take any further steps to improve the process. “A
close reading of this report, and follow-up conversations with stakeholders, reveals both good news
and bad news regarding the speed and quality of clearance investigations,” Davis said. GAO found
that too many investigations were missing key information and that it could take more than a year to
win even a basic security clearance. Davis points out that GAO looked at the clearance system prior
to its transfer to the Office of Personnel and Management in 2005 and that things are probably much
better than the report reflects. “I am certain that a sample of more current cases would show
significant improvement in both timeliness and consistent investigative standards,” Davis said.
To see more, go to: http://tomdavis.house.gov/cgi-data/news/files/282.shtml
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OPM Issues E-Government Progress Report
In its annual report on its internal e-government initiatives, the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) highlighted progress it has made on its Retirement System Modernization (RSM) project. While
not technically classified as an e-government initiative, RSM has many of the characteristics of one,
and has government-wide implications, the report said. In a key development for the year, OPM in April
awarded an RSM contract for a Defined Benefits Technology Solution, which when implemented will provide
OPM and the system’s users with an automated and virtually paperless IT environment for the agency’s
retirement processing—a key OPM mission. OPM also discussed the redesign of its Web site, which
was improved to increase the effectiveness of OPM communications with the federal workforce and other
audiences. To see more, go to: www.opm.gov/about_opm/10_18TokEGov_Report_2006.pdf
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