Ex-Bush aide Safavian sentenced to 18 months

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Bush administration official David Safavian was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Friday for lying and obstructing justice in connection with the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal that has ensnared Republicans.

Safavian, 39, who had worked at the General Services Administration and the White House budget office, was sentenced on four counts less than two weeks before elections in which the scandal and other corruptions charges have endangered Republican control of Congress