A trial judge on Tuesday handed a stinging defeat to David Safavian, former Bush administration official and one-time colleague of infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In a 35-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman rejected Safavian's bid for acquittal and request for a new trial. Friedman's decision leaves intact Safavian's on-again, off-again conviction.

Initially convicted in June 2006 on four counts of lying and concealment, and sentenced to 18 months in prison, Safavian later won reversal of the convictions by  an appellate court. Last December, following a second trial, Safavian was convicted again.

Safavian raised critical points; for instance, the former chief of staff for Bush's General Services Administration argued that a false statement made in a request for an ethics opinion cannot be considered "material" as a matter of law. Other of Safavian's arguments seem more of a stretch: for instance, he argued that a false statement to an FBI agent wasn't material because the agent already knew Safavian was lying. He further claimed the government engaged in vindictive prosecution, by pursuing charges the second time around that hadn't been raised in the first trial.

But Friedman concluded:

"There was no miscarriage of justice..."