The new charges follow a similar three-count indictment unsealed Sept. 19, charging Safavian with misleading investigators inquiring into a golf trip Safavian took with Abramoff, a former lobbying partner and friend, to the historic St. Andrews golf course in Scotland in August 2002.

All the charges allege that, Safavian, who was then chief of staff to the administrator of the General Services Administration, which manages federal property, told investigators and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that Abramoff had no business before GSA at the time of the golf outing.

But, according to the charges, Safavian was assisting Abramoff in acquiring federal property in Maryland for a school he supported and was interested in renting office space in the Old Post Office, a stately historic building in the heart of Washington.

Safavian is scheduled to be arraigned this morning in U.S. District Court in Washington where his attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said he will plead not guilty.

"This is not a case of guilty as charged. Rather it is an attempt to prove guilt by association," Van Gelder, said in a statement. "If this case did not involve Mr. Abramoff, the government would never have indicted Mr. Safavian on these charges."

Abramoff was indicted for bank fraud in August and reportedly remains under investigation for his lobbying activities. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, is also leading an inquiry into multimillion-dollar lobbying fees Abramoff charged Indian tribes.

There is no indication that Safavian is under scrutiny for any of his activities while in Cannon's office. Safavian left the lobbying firm Janus-Merritt Strategies, which he co-founded, and worked as Cannon's chief of staff for 16 months, from January 2001 to May 2002, before taking the GSA post.

During his tenure in Cannon's office, numerous positions advocated by the congressman appear to have benefited clients at Safavian's former firm, from online and Indian gambling interests, a satellite television giant, the Internet music-sharing company Napster and others.

Cannon's office has insisted that the congressman set his own agenda and staked out his own positions, although he and Safavian agreed on many issues.

The Utah Democratic Party called on Cannon this week to return campaign contributions from Safavian and Abramoff, as well as Rep. Tom DeLay, the Texas congressman who stepped aside as House Majority leader after being indicted on charges of money laundering.

Cannon has said he will not return any of the contributions for now, noting that the accused are "innocent until proven guilty," although he may revisit his stand later.

Cannon collects cash from Safavian's ex-clients

Where Cannon policies lined up with Safavian-client interests:

* Cannon fought a House bill seeking to ban online gambling, saying it could open the door to gambling in Utah. Safavian had lobbied for numerous gambling interests, including the Interactive Gaming Council. From 2001-2003, Cannon received more than $33,000 from groups and lobbyists opposing the gambling legislation.

* Cannon went to bat for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians during a House Government Reform Committee hearing in 2002 when the band was having a dispute with a neighboring tribe. The Viejas band was a client of Janus-Meritt and contributed $5,000 to the congressman.

* Cannon sponsored an Internet file-sharing bill in 2002, introduced shortly after Napster hired Janus-Merritt to lobby on the issue. Napster executives contributed $2,750 to Cannon's campaigns.

* Cannon was a leading opponent of a major satellite television merger between EchoStar Communications and DirecTV. Janus-Merritt lobbied on behalf of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which opposed the merger and acquired DirecTV when the FCC blocked the EchoStar deal. Cannon received thousand from opponents of the EchoStar.

* Cannon issued a press release praising Covad Communications for lowering its rate for Internet access. Covad was a client of Janus-Meritt. Covad and its executives have contributed more than $5,200 to Cannon.

* Cannon opposed a telecommunications reform bill at a time when several former Safavian clients were small telecom companies opposing the legislation.