Judge asked to dismiss case against ex-Cannon aide

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WASHINGTON - Attorneys for David Safavian, a former White House budget official and one-time chief of staff to Rep. Chris Cannon, urged a judge to throw out charges against their client, arguing he technically didn't mislead a team investigating disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Safavian's attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said prosecutors haven't made a case that Safavian broke the law, and argued the charges should be dismissed in order to spare her client "the expense, torture and turmoil of trial."

Safavian is charged with five counts of making false statements to investigators and obstructing an investigation into his dealings with Abramoff, who was a long-time friend and mentor to Safavian.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty to cheating American Indian tribes out of millions of dollars in lobbying fees and bribing members of Congress.

The charges against Safavian allege that when he was chief of staff at the General Services Administration, he told investigators that Abramoff had no business before the agency when he accompanied the lobbyist on a lavish golf trip to Scotland in August 2002.

That came three months after he left Cannon's staff. However, prosecutors say Abramoff was getting Safavian's help on two deals with GSA at the time of the junket.

Van Gelder said Friday that her client did not consider the outing to be tied to business, although e-mails from Abramoff to a colleague said it was a "total business angle."

As far as Safavian was concerned, "he was going golfing with his friend, a person he goes golfing with often, a person he plays racquetball with," she said.

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman didn't rule on the motion, but Van Gelder conceded that courts rarely dismiss indictments. The trial is scheduled to start May 22. Abramoff will likely testify.

Van Gelder said Safavian has already told investigators everything he knows.