Judge postpones interior secretary’s contempt hearing
The Associated Press
November 30, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) A judge on Friday postponed a hearing to determine whether Interior Secretary Gale Norton misled the court about efforts to correct a century of mismanagement of Indian royalties.
Government attorneys had sought to delay the contempt hearing for a month, but U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth scolded them for stalling and set the hearing for Dec. 10.
Lamberth asked government attorneys how they could argue the court wasn’t misled, citing two directly contradictory reports about an accounting system being created to track the money.
One report from Norton’s office said the computerized accounting system was progressing on schedule. The other, from a consultant hired by the department, suggested the $40 million accounting system should be scrapped entirely.
”What are we going to try?” Lamberth asked. ”Did she lie to me the first time or did she lie the second time?”
The second report remains under seal due to security issues it raised. Lamberth suggested it may be released next week.
Lamberth is presiding in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 300,000 Indians. They claim the government squandered more than $10 billion of royalties from reservation lands.
Lamberth has ordered the Interior Department to piece together how much the Indians are owed and is keeping close watch over Interior’s reform efforts.
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