WASHINGTON — Utah Rep. Chris Cannon says a search for a chief of staff with knowledge of the telecommunications industry led him to hire young lobbyist David Safavian in 2001.

Now, as Safavian is pulled deeper into a federal corruption investigation centering on his former lobbying associate Jack Abramoff, critics wonder what influence campaign donations from lobbyists and former Safavian clients — many of them gambling proponents — had on decisions Cannon made in recent years.

The most prominent was his work to kill a 2003 bill that would have cracked down on Internet gambling.

"It seems to fit into a pattern," said Larry Noble, executive director of the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. "It puts Cannon under some pressure to say why he took the votes he did."

Cannon, a Republican, says his votes are not affected by the contributions and he made his decisions for principled reasons. "My voting has been consistent," he said in an e-mailed response to questions from the Associated Press.

Safavian was arrested and charged last week with making false statements and obstructing the federal investigation into his dealings with Abramoff. The charges are related to Safavian's activities after he left Cannon's office in May 2002.

Safavian did not return a call for comment to his Virginia home.

Critics contend the relationship between Safavian and Cannon deserves scrutiny. Several questions were raised about Cannon's decisions in an online article in "The Raw Story," an online alternative news page.

Safavian worked with Abramoff in the Washington office of Preston Gates & Ellis and went on to form Janus-Merritt Strategies, where he represented the Interactive Gaming Council, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. and the National Indian Gaming Association, among many others.

When he joined Cannon's office, they agreed it would be just for about a year, said Cannon's current press secretary Charles Isom. Cannon said Safavian had experience with telecommunications, a prominent issue at the time.

The two had had contact before. According to Federal Election Commission documents, Safavian contributed to Cannon's campaign as early as 1999.

After Safavian joined Cannon's office in 2001, campaign contributions to Cannon from Indian tribes jumped, according to an analysis by PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks the donations.