Gonzales won't testify about trust fund settlement

Wednesday, March 28, 2007  

The Bush administration won't be sending embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to the Senate hearing on Indian trust fund litigation tomorrow.

Gonzales, who previously told Congress that the trust lawsuits were worth more than $200 billion, continues to face questions about his credibility as the federal prosecutor scandal simmers in Washington. His support on Capitol Hill has slowly eroded over the past month.

But the Department of Justice official who will testify is also under fire for his role in the firings of several U.S. Attorneys. William M. Mercer, the acting associate attorney general, is slated to present the administration's $7 billion trust proposal to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee tomorrow.

As a top political appointee, Mercer repeatedly comes up in over 3,000 pages of e-mails and documents that have been made public. His involvement has put his nomination as the number three at DOJ on hold pending as Congress looks into the prosecutor firings.

It also highlights the dual roles Mercer plays. He has been serving as U.S. Attorney in Montana since April 2001 and has been holding his job in Washington for almost two years, shuffling to and from the state that is home to seven reservations.

Despite his high-ranking position, Mercer hasn't been directly involved in the Cobell case or any of the tribal trust fund cases. However, he sits on DOJ's Native American Issues subcommittee and at one point was asked to consider running the panel by Kyle Sampson, a former Gonzales aide who resigned as the U.S. Attorney scandal unfolded.

The absence of Gonzales stands in contrast to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who will make his first appearance before the Senate committee since taking over the Interior Department last May. It was Gonzales and Kempthorne who made the $7 billion offer earlier this month.

Also slated to testify is Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in the case who is a member of the Blackfeet Nation from Montana. John Echohawk, the executive director of the Native American Rights Fund, the non-profit that serves as co-counsel in the case, and Bill Martin, the vice chairman of the Inter-Tribal Monitoring Association, are on the witness list.

Cobell and the plaintiffs have already rejected the $7 billion proposal as a bad faith offer. They have pointed to Gonzales' testimony in March 2005, in which he said the tribal lawsuits along were worth more than $200 billion.

Martin, who serves as vice president of the Tlingit and Haida Tribes of Alaska, has criticized the administration as well for tying tribal issues to the Cobell case, which only affects money held in trust for individual Indians.

The committee will also hear from John Bickerman, who was appointed by Congress as a mediator between the plaintiffs and the Bush administration. He has suggested a settlement of the case of upwards of $10 billion.

The hearing takes place at 9:15am tomorrow in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The committee is urging people to watch the proceeding online due to a high number of expected attendees.

Committee Notice:
OVERSIGHT HEARING on Indian trust fund litigation (March 29, 2007)

Settlement Letter:
Kempthorne-Gonzales to SCIA (March 1, 2007)

Elouise Cobell Statement:
NO THANKS, WE’LL TAKE THE ACCOUNTING, INDIAN PLAINTIFFS SAY (March 8, 2007)

Sen. Dorgan Statement:
DORGAN SAYS BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFERS $7 BILLION TO SETTLE SUIT OVER MISMANAGEMENT OF INDIAN TRUST FUNDS (March 6, 2007)

Other Documents:
Alberto Gonzales Testimony (March 1, 2005) | SCIA Views and Estimates (March 1, 2007)

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