Van Hollen Asks GAO to Investigate Possible Misconduct in Awarding of Government Contracts in Aftermath of Safavian Arrest

Van Hollen Asks GAO to Investigate Possible Misconduct in Awarding of Government Contracts in Aftermath of Safavian Arrest

Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and other Members of Congress today sent the following letter to David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States, asking him to investigate possible misconduct in the federal government contracting process in light of the recent arrest of David Safavian, who oversaw the Office of Federal Procurement Policy at OMB and, prior to that, was Chief of Staff at the General Services Administration (GSA).

"This investigation is important as we deal with the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the awarding of huge no-bid contracts," said Van Hollen. "It cannot go unnoticed that perhaps the key government official dealing with federal procurement and the management of $300,000,000,000 of federal contracts has been arrested in connection with his past role in the procurement process. American taxpayers deserve the assurance that the government officials charged with overseeing the spending of their tax dollars are conducting our nation's business with the highest of ethical standards. Mr. Safavian's arrest rocks the core of this confidence."

The letter was also signed by Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL), William Delahunt (D-MA), and Gene Taylor (D-MS).

September 27, 2005

The Honorable David M. Walker
Comptroller General of the United States
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548

Dear Comptroller Walker:

We were shocked to learn of the arrest David Safavian, the former Chief of Staff to the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), for matters that occurred while he was operating in his official capacity in that position. The Justice Department has indicated that his arrest was based upon a three count criminal complaint for making false statements and obstructing an investigation conducted by the Inspector General.

Based upon a reading of the criminal complaint, it appears that his transgressions were only discovered in the context of an unrelated investigation of the activities of another individual who was doing business with GSA through Mr. Safavian.

As the Chief of Staff to the Administrator of GSA, this Presidential Appointee occupied a very powerful position and operated in a position of trust for an agency that oversees all civilian procurement, Federal land acquisition and disposal and telecommunication technology and policy. Moreover, Mr. Safavian subsequently became the Administrator for the Office of the Federal Procurement Policy within the Executive Office of the President in the office of Management and Budget. In this more recent position he oversaw government-wide procurement policy including the A-76 process, which entails the systematic outsourcing of Federal employee functions to outside contractors.

As a consequence, in both of these high level jobs Mr. Safavian was in a position to engage in other transactions that could greatly compromise government assets in exchange for personal or political favors, thereby violating Federal statutes, regulations and/or ethics requirements that govern conflicts of interests and the appearance of impropriety.

The American people have a right to expect that their Government officials are conducting the Nation's business in a manner that is in the best interests of the people. The arrest of Mr. Safavian greatly undermines this notion.

Consequently, we request that you conduct a comprehensive investigation of all of the matters where Mr. Safavian became directly or indirectly involved to ensure that the public trust was not violated and that other important and costly government programs were not compromised. A thorough and independent investigation will be necessary to restore American's confidence that the assets of their Government are not being bought and sold for personal or political gain.

Sincerely,

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/md08_vanhollen/Safavian_Arrest.html