Jury deliberates in Safavian case

David Safavian's fate is now in the hands of a jury.

The defense rested its case on Tuesday without calling a single witness in the retrial of the Bush administration's former top procurement official, who is charged with lying about his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his participation in a 2002 golfing trip to Scotland.

In a surprise decision, Safavian declined to take the stand in his own defense. He testified during his first 2006 trial and was convicted. That verdict was later overturned.

When asked by District Court Judge Paul Friedman about his decision not to testify, Safavian, who previously served as chief of staff at the General Services Administration, said, "I've given it a lot of thought."

The defense appeared to change strategy on Tuesday and let its case ride on the cross-examination of the government's witnesses.

After submitting a handful of documents into evidence but without calling a single witness to the stand, the defense rested on Tuesday morning. In his closing statement, defense attorney Larry Robbins suggested that testimony from multiple former GSA officials -- all witnesses for the prosecution -- actually supported his client's case.

"The government has not even come close to meeting its heavy burden of proof in this case," Robbins said.

Prior to the Scotland trip, Abramoff and Safavian traded e-mails in which the lobbyist asked for help in purchasing or developing two GSA properties. At one point, Safavian offered to "do some digging." Neither property was sold, and they remain in GSA hands.

Shortly thereafter, Safavian traveled with Abramoff and seven others to Scotland and London for a weekend of golfing. Prior to the trip, Safavian solicited the opinion of GSA's general counsel at the time, Raymond McKenna, about the appropriateness of accepting free travel from Abramoff. Safavian told the ethics officer that Abramoff "did not have business with GSA" and that he worked only on Capitol Hill.

The ethics officer wrote that Safavian could accept the trip for free. Nonetheless, before the trip began, Safavian wrote Abramoff a check for $3,100, a figure Abramoff allegedly suggested would cover Safavian's portion of the costs. The government suggested Safavian's cost actually was significantly higher.

Those five words -- "did not have business with GSA" -- could serve as the linchpin of the case.

Prosecutor Justin Shur argued that Abramoff had been lobbying GSA and Safavian about the two properties, and that the defendant "outright lied" about the communication.

"He had a motive to lie, which matched up with the lie he told," Shur told jurors in the government's closing argument.

The defense, however, argued that the common definition at GSA of "doing business" was holding a contract with the agency.

Throughout the weeklong trial, the prosecution called several former GSA officials, including former administrator Stephen Perry, McKenna and Eugenia Ellison, the ethics officer who ultimately approved Safavian's trip. All three witnesses backed up the defense's definition of "doing business with the GSA."

In 2006, a jury found Safavian guilty of making false statements and obstructing justice. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but earlier this year, an appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial on three of the charges.

Prosecutors re-indicted Safavian in October, adding two new charges: lying on a financial disclosure form and providing false statements to the FBI.

The jury was expected to start deliberations Tuesday afternoon. It's unclear how long it will take to reach a verdict.