Reed, Ney To Take Stand in Safavian Trial?

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Now, here’s a development that could make the David Safavian trial more interesting. Safavian’s lawyer Barbara van Gelder has filed a motion seeking to confer immunity on three witnesses she wants to put on the stand. All three, she says, are under investigation by the Justice Department and have told her that they’ll exercise their Fifth Amendment privilege if called.

So who are these mysterious three? The key to this case is the 2002 Scotland golf junket hosted by Jack Abramoff. Ralph Reed and Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) were also along for the ride, so either could be called. Van Gelder hasn’t even ruled out calling Abramoff. That would be fun.

Other Ney staffers came on the trip too: Neil Volz (already a witness for the prosecution), Paul Vinovich, and Will Heaton. Vinovich and Heaton have both been subpoenaed by prosecutors, and Vinovich has signaled that he’ll invoke the Fifth. So it seems pretty certain that van Gelder wants to hear from Vinovich.

But no matter who is called, there’s no doubt what we’ll be hearing about: golf.

Latest Muckraker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: