White House staffer using "we were just friends" defense with Abramoff

It's probably comforting for Abramoff to know he has a friend:

"The government is stretching the facts to put David Safavian into the web of corruption," defense attorney Barbara Van Gelder told a jury of 10 women and two men. "David Safavian was not in Jack Abramoff's pocket, but he was his friend," she said.

Obviously, they were very good friends. According to the prosecutors, Safavian was just trying to help Abramoff get access to government property and Abramoff was just flying him to Scotland:

The day after a meeting on the school project at GSA that Safavian arranged and which Costa attended, Safavian went on an Abramoff-organized weeklong golf excursion to Scotland and London.

Costa said he knew Safavian would be vacationing in Scotland, but that Safavian didn't say who he would be traveling with. Nor did Safavian say there was any connection between the people he would be golfing with in Scotland and the private school that had been the subject of the meeting, Costa testified.

Such good friends.