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.

Former White House official/Abramoff ally David Safavian is appealing his recent conviction in his Abramoff-related case:

Safavian wept in court as he asked for leniency last month, but [U.S. Federal District Court Judge Paul] Friedman said the ex-bureaucrat had become part of Washington's culture of corruption in which congressmen listen to campaign donors and lobbyists while farming out to staff members the job of writing laws.

Friedman explained in his short ruling that, while he remains confident that he made the right decisions at Safavian's trial, some of them were close calls. One such call was the decision to allow into evidence Safavian's e-mails with Abramoff.

Because those e-mails were key to the Justice Department's case, Friedman said, if that decision is overturned a new trial likely would be required.

Even the courts acknowledge the culture of corruption. Abramoff was a prolific e-mailer. Everyone seems to want to keep their e-mails with Abramoff out of public view.

Jail time for Safavian:

David Safavian, was sentenced in federal court today to 18 months in federal prison. Safavian, a former top White House procurement official, and also the one-time chief of staff of the General Services Administration, was convicted in June of lying to investigators about his dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Former White House aide David Safavian is trying to avoid jail time following his conviction in the Abramoff related scandal. He's got friends in high places trying to help with that:

Rep. Chris Cannon is asking a judge for leniency for his former chief of staff, David Safavian, who was convicted with obstructing a federal investigation into his ties with lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"When David was my chief of staff, he worked tirelessly in my Washington office. He would come in early, stay late, and devote his undivided attention to the needs of the people in Utah's Third Congressional District," Cannon wrote in a letter quoted by Safavian's attorneys in court filings.

Prosecutors have asked Judge Paul Friedman to sentence Safavian to as many as 37 months in prison. He was convicted of four counts of obstruction of justice and false statements for lying to investigators about his relationship with Abramoff.

Safavian and Cannon will learn the sentence on Friday.