Indian Trust Fund Contempt Trial

[David Morris]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48884-2002Feb21.html

Judge Says Officials 'Duped' Court
Closing Remarks Made in Indian Trust Fund Contempt Trial

By Neely Tucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 22, 2002; Page A06

On the final day of Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton's contempt trial, a 
federal judge said his court had been "duped" by Interior and Justice 
department officials about their efforts to overhaul a trust fund for 
Indians, a stark suggestion that the secretary has failed to convince the 
court that the Bush administration could repair the $500 million-per-year 
account.
[...]
After scoffing at the testimony of a Justice Department official about the 
status of checks that were to have been mailed to Indians weeks ago, [U.S. 
District Judge] Lamberth said: "It was all just a word game . . . and on the 
29th day of a contempt trial, if I'm still playing word games with the 
government, it's almost beyond belief how the court is ever going to gain 
control of this system."

Lamberth's remarks came in the closing moments of the second contempt trial 
held as part of a massive lawsuit filed in 1996 by Native Americans over the 
alleged mismanagement of billions of dollars in royalties or leasing rights 
on more than 11 million acres of Indian land.

Norton and Neal McCaleb, the assistant secretary for Indian affairs, are 
facing five contempt charges that allege that they failed to follow court 
orders or covered up failures in their attempts to clean up the account.





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