Today, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for David Savafian, who as AP noted was "the first Bush administration official convicted in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal." In response, Melanie Sloan issued the following statement:

Jack Abramoff routinely offered up meals, tickets and trips to government officials who seemed susceptible to such offerings and who were in a position to help him. David Safavian was just one such official. To make it clear to all other government employees that such conduct will not be tolerated and that they will be held accountable, it is imperative that the Justice Department retry Safavian for his crimes. The court’s decision today should have little bearing on any other Abramoff-related prosecutions. Anyone looking to the court’s decision here to save them from prosecution will be sadly disappointed.