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FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2002

The Department of Justice has asked a federal court official to rescind a critical report which could lead to charges of criminal misconduct against Secretary of Interior Gale Norton.

In a letter to court monitor Joseph S. Kieffer III, a government attorney accuses him of making statements that are "patently untrue." Sandra Spooner on May 7 said his seventh report provides no support for damaging claims made of Norton.

"If you have no evidence to support your allegations, we respectfully request that they be withdrawn," she wrote.

According to Spooner, the report charges that Norton "lied" in a recent internal memorandum. But Kieffer "provides no evidentiary support for this extraordinary comment," she wrote.

The report also makes "very serious allegations of misconduct against government officials and others" without proof, Spooner asserted. Kieffer has also prejudged nearly 50 government officials and attorneys in a manner that "unjustly damages their reputations," she added.

"For all of these reasons, we respectfully request that you issue a revised report that deletes those contentious that are patently untrue or for which you cite no evidentiary support," Spooner concluded.

Spooner's missive comes in advance of an official response the department must provide to the report, which was released last week. Under rules imposed by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, the government has 10 days to file objections.

But by seeking to have some of the report's admittedly damning findings removed, the department wouldn't have to respond to them. Excising the criticism of Norton, for example, would relieve the government of an obligation to defend or explain her actions.

The request also speaks of future objections the government may raise to widening investigations being undertaken by Kieffer and another court official. Special master Alan Balaran is deposing a number of high-level officials, including Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb and Deputy Commissioner Sharon Blackwell, in conjunction with his ongoing probe into the security of the Indian trust system.

For his part, Kieffer is delving deeper into a dispute he uncovered involving Norton and the Office of the Special Trustee, which is charged by law to ensure the system is fixed. He plans to interview numerous officials under oath to try and uncover what he has called "retaliation" against and "obstruction" of Tom Slonaker, who heads the office.

"The method attempted to accomplish these ends and the reasons why," he wrote in his report, "may be sufficiently close to obstructing this court’s oversight to draw its attention and inquiry."

Get the Report:
Seventh Report of the Court Monitor (5/2)

Relevant Links:
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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