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WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2002

A federal appeals court on Tuesday declined to reimburse former secretary of interior Bruce Babbitt for all of the legal fees incurred as a result of an investigation into a controversial tribal casino proposal.

In a 2-1 decision, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Babbitt was only entitled to about $52,000, one-fourth of what he sought. This was the amount of money his legal team spent to review a report which cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.

Babbitt was investigated for denying a land-into-trust application for an off-reservation casino proposed by three Ojibwe tribes in Wisconsin. It was alleged that campaign contributions of tribes opposed to the deal influenced the decision.

The tribes sued and the Department of Interior settled by agreeing to reconsider the application. The Bush administration approved the deal in early 20001 but Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum rejected it.

The tribes have since returned to court.

Get the Story:
Panel Rules on Babbitt's Legal Fees (AP 5/22)

Get the Case:
IN RE: BRUCE EDWARD BABBITT, No. 98000-1 (D.C. Cir. May 21, 2002)

Relevant Links:
Testimony on The Department of Interior's Denial of the Wisconsin Chippewa's Casino Application - http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/gro/hgoHudson.000
/hgoHudson_0f.htm
Letter to Janet Reno from the Committee on Government Reform - www.house.gov/reform/letters/210reno.htm

Related Stories:
Wisconsin Governor vetoes Ojibwe casino (5/15)
BIA approves off-reservation Ojibwe casino (2/21)
Babbitt casino report released (8/23)
Tribes fight casino (7/24)
Tribe suing DOI over casino (7/18)
Tribe can't interfere with casino (6/08)