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Gold9472
09-25-2005, 05:37 PM
Newsweek catches congressman in another lie

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Newsweek_catches_congressman_in_ano_0925.html

9/25/2005

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff catches powerful Ohio congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) in another lie about a trip he took with recently arrested ex-White House official David Safavian. The deal? He said he made the trip to speak to Scottish parliamentarians. The trouble? There's no record of him ever giving a speech -- and the parliament wasn't even in session.

RAW STORY revealed another apparent lie the congressman made about who paid for the trip earlier in the week: an email from Safavian indicates that Ney knew that fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff was footing the bill for the junket.

David Safavian wasn't expecting visitors. A relatively senior White House official—he oversaw federal contracts for the Office of Management and Budget—the 38-year-old Safavian had been working around the clock on Katrina relief. But at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, a team of FBI agents showed up at his house and arrested him. The Feds wanted to know if Safavian would be willing to cooperate in an ongoing corruption probe surrounding his friend, lobbyist Jack Abramoff. According to Safavian's lawyer, no deal was struck. Safavian was then charged with lying to the FBI and obstructing an investigation.

Safavian, it turns out, isn't the only one who could get tripped up by Abramoff's golfing jaunt. According to a cache of Abramoff's e-mails released last year, the lobbyist planned the trip as a favor for Ohio Rep. Robert Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee. In a June 2002 e-mail to one of his Indian-casino clients, Abramoff noted that "our friend [Ney]" had "asked if we could help (as in cover) a Scotland golf trip for him and some staff." At the time, Ney had agreed to back legislation that would help Abramoff's client, the Tigua tribe of Texas, to reopen a casino. It is against House ethics rules for members to take trips paid for by lobbyists. On a House disclosure form, Ney reported that the Scotland trip was sponsored by a conservative think tank, and that its "official" purpose included giving a "speech to Scottish Parliamentarians" and visiting the British Parliament during a London stopover.

But the Feds' complaint against Safavian says it was Abramoff, not the think tank, that arranged the outing, which is referred to only as a "golf trip." And other records reviewed by NEWSWEEK raise further questions about Ney's account. An "external liaison" registry of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh shows that other members of the U.S. Congress visited that month. But there is no record of Ney's doing so. In fact, the Parliament was in recess when Ney was in Scotland, so "there is no way" he could have addressed the body, said Sally Coyne, a Parliament spokeswoman. A press officer for the House of Commons in London said the British Parliament was also in recess.

Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said that the congressman "wasn't giving a formal speech." Ney "met with a number of folks over there. I don't have any names." Ney has also said that it was Abramoff who told him the trip was being sponsored by the think tank. Walsh added that Ney has offered to review the matter with the House ethics committee. But if Safavian is any indication, the Feds, who haven't yet turned public attention on Ney or other members of Congress, may not be willing to wait much longer.