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THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2003

The federal government's latest report on the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust is drawing skepticism from all sides of the debate.

Lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell said the report is inaccurate because it was based on unverified data. She is one of four IIM beneficiaries whose data was analyzed between 1915 and 2000.

Montana lawmakers are also leery. "Congress and taxpayers are going to rapidly tire of throwing money at what appears to be an endless task," Sen. Conrad Burns (R) told The Billings Gazette. "Boiling down 162,000 documents spanning almost 90 years and coming up with $60 and some change is surreal," Rep. Danny Rehberg (R) said. "I am skeptical of the report and the amount."

Even a Department of Interior official seemed to question whether the report had any bearing on the entire IIM system. "We are not saying you can take the total for these five and multiply by the number of Indians who are owed money," spokesperson Dan DuBray said. In earlier press accounts, he was dismissive: "This serves as an example of how inflated are the claims about the trust accounts," he told The Denver Post.

Get the Story:
Expensive Indian trust report finds little (The Billings Gazette 3/27)

Relevant Documents:
Ernst & Young Summary Submitted to Court (February 28, 2003)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust

Related Stories:
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Appropriators question historical accounting (3/13)
DOI sanctioned for 'deceit' (3/12)
IIM accounting keeps changing (3/12)
New Cobell ruling from Judge Lamberth (3/11)
Court blocks Norton's historical accounting scheme (3/4)
A trust fund scandal? Not here! (3/4)
Trust management standards key to reform plan (01/08)
Cobell trust reform plans filed (1/7)
Let court review trust fund accounts (10/11)
Judge rejects Norton's 'absurd' accounting claim (09/23)
House bill cuts trust fund accounting (06/28)
Norton says accounting complete for plaintiffs (02/14)
Judge rejects 'improper' request by Norton (02/06)
Norton criticized on private trust report (02/05)
Norton renews push on private trust data (2/1)
Norton seeking to expose trust fund data (9/28)