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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002

It took nearly a month but it's finally over. Closing arguments were heard Thursday, on the 29th day of Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's contempt trial.

A sizable but not overflow crowd listened as U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth was told what to do with the proceedings. An attorney for 300,000 American Indian beneficiaries argued for a receiver while an attorney for the Department of Interior said there wasn't enough clear and compelling evidence to warrant contempt.

Lamberth will now accept proposed findings and conclusions, due February 28, from both sides. Each side will be able to respond and Lamberth will make his finding sometime after that.

Get the Story:
Judge Says Officials 'Duped' Court (The Washington Post 2/22)
Indian trust case judge feels 'duped' (The Denver Post 2/22)
Judge asks why Interior Secretary Norton shouldn't be held in contempt in Indian royalties case (AP 2/21)

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

Related Stories:
Judge says 'duped' by government (2/21)
Judge blasts Interior 'deception' (2/21)
NCAI President testifies on shutdown (2/21)
Contempt testimony concludes (2/20)
Norton dropping Clinton policy (2/20)
McCaleb talks trust with Sam (2/19)
Norton recounts shaky year in trust (2/15)
Norton tries to convince judge on trust reform (2/14)
Norton says plaintiffs' accounting complete (2/14)
Griles has hope on contempt (2/13)
Norton concludes testimony (2/13)
Norton takes the stand in contempt (2/13)
Norton agrees to testify (2/12)
Norton set for trial testimony (2/12)
Trust fund mess blamed on Babbitt (2/11)
Norton ordered to testify (2/8)
Trust system takes center stage in contempt (2/1)
Federal judge resuming Norton contempt trial (1/31)
Norton effort 'too little, too late' for judge (1/16)
Interior official denies trust fund 'conspiracy' (1/15)
Witness testifies against software corruption (1/15)
Dom Nessi expected as Norton witness (1/14)
Norton launches contempt defense (1/11)
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End in sight for Norton contempt trial (1/10)
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Babbitt, others dropped as witnesses (1/9)
Trial resumes with trust testimony (1/7)
Contempt trial resumes in federal court (1/4)
Cobell: Justice for Indian Country (12/24)
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Interior can't find proof of corruption (12/21)
Tribal leaders blast Norton proposal (12/21)
Reports crucial to Norton contempt (12/21)
TAAMS failure traced to first manager (12/20)
TAAMS: The Titanic Failure (12/20)
Judge questions role in trust fund 'circus' (12/20)
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Judge questions role in trust fund 'circus' (12/20)
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Ruling on court monitor put off (12/20)
Norton ordered to submit trust fund report (12/18)
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Editorial: Bad faith, wasted dollars (12/13)
Confusion, conflict detailed at Interior (12/12)
Exclusive: Trust reform assessment (12/12)
Lamberth pokes fun at government (12/12)
EDS trust reform report online (12/12)
Coverage of Contempt Trial, Day 2 (12/12)
Contempt trial continues (12/11)
Contested reports focus of contempt trial (12/11)
The Trial: Witnesses to Contempt (12/11)
Coverage of Contempt Trial, Day 1 (12/11)
Norton contempt trial opens (12/10)
Norton attacks court monitor (12/10)
Norton set for contempt trial (12/10)