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WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2002

A Department of Interior spokesperson would not respond to claims of high-level intimidation by an ousted official, the Associated Press reports.

Tom Slonaker quit his post as Special Trustee for American Indians yesterday. He was asked to leave by Secretary Gale Norton, he said.

Slonaker also charged that the White House and the Department of Justice intimidated him into not testifying about a costly historical accounting plan affecting more than 500,000 American Indians. He withheld a written statement to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and made verbal statements on the ineffectiveness of the proposal instead.

Get the Story:
Indian trust supervisor resigns under pressure (The Denver Post 7/31)
Interior Aide Says He Was Forced To Quit Indian Trust-Fund Probe (AP 7/31)
Indians' special trustee leaves post (The Arizona Republic 7/31)
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Indian Leaders Won't Back Down (AP 7/30)

Today on Indianz.Com:
Slonaker cites White House pressure (7/31)

Relevant Documents:
Tom Slonaker Statement (7/30) | Gale Norton Statement (7/30) | Neal McCaleb Statement (7/30) | McCain Statement (7/30) | Tom Slonaker Biography (OST)

Relevant Links:
Office of the Special Trustee - http://www.ost.doi.gov
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

Related Stories:
Slonaker leaves Bush administration (7/30)