WASHINGTON — Lobbyist Jack Abramoff engaged in regular contact with a high-ranking White House official, asking for favors and pouring out his heart as lawmakers and the media began exposing details of his business dealings, according to copies of e-mails released Wednesday by the White House.
At one point, when news reports began detailing the lobbyist's role in a burgeoning ethics scandal that has threatened to envelop Republican lawmakers, the White House aide offered to assist Abramoff with "damage control."
The e-mails, which include dozens of communications during 2004, reveal a casual, jocular relationship between Abramoff and David H. Safavian, who was chief of federal procurement policy at the White House budget office until he was charged last year with lying in connection with a federal investigation of Abramoff.
Safavian had the power to help Abramoff with some aspects of his lobbying business, and some of the e-mails concern business matters. Most, however, concentrate on friendly banter.
In early October 2004, Safavian asked sympathetically how Abramoff was doing after published reports that he had made disparaging comments about his Indian tribe clients in e-mail messages. "Pretty bummed," Abramoff replied. "They really made me out to be a horrible person. They twisted everything.... The worst was them accusing me of being a racist! I have spilled more blood for tribes than I can possibly recount."
Earlier, in February, when Abramoff's dealings began making headlines, Safavian made his offer to assist with damage control. Days later, Safavian wrote again, assuring Abramoff that "you're in our thoughts."
"Let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do to help," the White House official wrote.
The White House Office of Management and Budget released the e-mails Wednesday in response to a request from a news outlet under the Freedom of Information Act.
A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said, "We expect all employees to fully comply with the laws and regulations governing ethical behavior." She did not directly address the relationship between Abramoff and Safavian, noting only that Safavian no longer worked in the administration.
Safavian's lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, said Wednesday that the e-mails revealed nothing new and were indications of a well-established friendship between two men. "This is locker room banter with a Blackberry," she said. "And it just shows a consistent pattern of friendship."
