It’s not every day that a former White House official is convicted on felony charges. But yesterday’s verdict was far more significant than that.
For months, the Abramoff investigation has hummed quietly along, showing up in headlines only for the occasional occasional guilty plea from a former lobbyist and staffer. But bagging David Safavian is ample encouragement to put the pedal to the metal. We’re talking Tokyo Drift, baby.
That’s the consensus not only among legal experts, but also possible targets in the case. From The New York Times:
“Safavian was a little fish,” said a lawyer for a former government official who has also become entangled in the investigations of Mr. Abramoff. The lawyer, who was granted anonymity to speak because he did not want to bring unnecessary attention to his client, added, “I think this makes it easier for the prosecutors to ask permission at the Justice Department to go for the bigger fish.”
So who are those bigger fish?
Of course, Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) — whose political ad is ironically featured in this Ohio paper’s story on Safavian’s conviction — is next, virtually everyone can agree, despite his flack’s absurd insistence that “The Safavian case had nothing to do with Congressman Ney.”
Also with a big bull’s eye is Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay’s right-hand lobbyist, a man possibly even more dangerous in his level of knowledge. Here’s a guy who knows where the bodies are buried — AND where they hid the shovels. Buckham was right smack at the center of DeLay’s money machine for almost a decade, and he also lobbied for Duke Cunningham briber Brent Wilkes. As Roll Call notes: Buckham “is the next logical target for federal prosecutors, and one who could help them make a case against any lawmakers tied to Abramoff.” Buckham has already been implicated by his old DeLay colleague Tony Rudy – if he flips, the Abramoff scandal will be back with a vengeance.
The feds aren’t short of potential targets. That “former government official who has also become entangled in the investigations of Mr. Abramoff,” for instance — might that be former Deputy Secretary at the Interior Department Steven Griles, Abramoff’s “in” at Interior? And let’s not forget the rest on the scandal roster: Tom DeLay, Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), and others whose political careers could be derailed.
We’re just getting started here.
