Bush administration resists trust fund order

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2002

The Department of Interior continues to resist a court order to account for billions of dollars in Indian trust funds, nearly three years after a federal judge's landmark decision.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in December 1999 awarded 500,000 American Indians a stunning legal victory when he found the federal government in breach of its fiduciary duties. The Clinton and Bush administrations haven't come any closer to resolving the century-old mess since then.

The latest challenge comes in response to the first of many contempt citations sought against government officials. Attorneys for the Indian plaintiffs accuse Edith Blackwell, an Interior solicitor who was kicked off the case last fall, of "repeatedly" flouting orders to account.

According to the Bush administration, however, there was nothing Blackwell -- or anyone else, for that matter -- to violate. Court papers filed last week dispute the nature of Lamberth's sweeping decision.

A "judgment, such as the one entered by the court on December 21, 1999, regarding the historical accounting, as a matter of law cannot serve as the basis for a contempt finding," the Department of Justice wrote on September 4.

A similar argument is being used to defend Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb from contempt sanctions. The Bush officials face five charges for not providing an accounting, misleading the court and failing to protect Indian funds from computer hackers.

Mark Nagle, chief of the civil division at the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington, D.C., handled the contempt trial. During closing arguments this past February, he admitted to Lamberth that court directives haven't been followed.

He quickly added: "Non-compliance with [court orders] may be inappropriate, but it is not contempt."

Lamberth continues to mull a decision against Norton and McCaleb. The evidence covers more than a year of activities under both the Clinton and Bush regimes.

In addition to Blackwell, nearly 50 government officials and attorneys face contempt citations.

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
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp