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MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2002

The Department of Justice spent more than $20 million to collect and analyze trust fund documents for the five named plaintiffs in the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit.

Accounting firm Ernst & Young prepared a final report on the effort but the document is under seal because it contains private financial data. Secretary Gale Norton last year asked to release the information but was rebuked for doing so by a federal judge.

According to court documents and testimony, the report was based on a paper-matching exercise similar to the one Arthur Andersen performed on the tribal trust accounts in the 1990s. Andersen was convicted this summer of obstruction of justice for shredding documents in an unrelated case.

Former Special Trustee Tom Slonaker, who said he was forced to quit his post because he challenged Norton's views on the trust fund, never signed off on the Ernst & Young report. He also opposed Norton's attempt to give it to members of Congress.

Get the Story:
Report: Indian trust losses overstated (Gannett News Service 8/18)

Relevant Links:
Ernst & Young - http://www.ey.com
House Resources Committee - http://resourcescommittee.house.gov
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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