The Political Chase

Pelosi on Safavian

From The Stakeholder, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on David Safavian:

Question. Madame Leader, you mentioned David Safavian - are you concerned with his wife being Congressman Davis’s chief investigative lawyer for the committee, further would hinder in your view that committee’s ability to conduct a thorough investigation?

Leader Pelosi. Well as you know I have little confidence in the committee that Mr. Davis will supposedly head. I think this further worsens the situation. The question of a husband and wife are always separate ones - the spouses are not responsible for their counterpart’s activities. But I do say when there is a direct link to the White House and procurement and the investigation this committee is supposed to conduct then I think that shatters all sense of confidence. I’d be interested in how Mr. Safavian got his job - I think several questions are raised. Like Mr. Brown, he really has no credentials. Mr. Brown at FEMA, Mr. Safavian doesn’t have the credentials that would justify him being the top procurement person for the White House and assigned now to Katrina which is an urgent matter for the victims of Katrina and the American taxpayers who will pay the tab on this. So how did he get his job? How does a person who was a staffer in Congress, I think he worked for Mr. Abramoff for a while, and then became the top procurement official in the White House. So how did he get that job? Did any influential members of Congress recommend him to that job? Is there a connection between his wife and that recommendation? Let’s say this, when confidence is so low here as far as the investigation of Katrina and how we got to where we are. All of this is for the safety of the American people. All of this is to be done as Mr. Waxman said in real time on this contracting because this is happening now. There is no point really investigating it after the fact and said, ‘Oh, we wasted all this money.’ Let’s save the taxpayer’s money now. The top procurement officer from the White House was arrested yesterday. Until then he was doing the procurement work for Katrina, his wife is the chief counsel for the committee government reform that the chair of which will take over the investigation of Katrina. I think the links are too close to inspire any sense of confidence and I’d like to know how Mr. Safavian got his job in the first place and did his friends in Congress have any role in that.

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