Discipline records on trusts unsealed
The Denver Post
By: Bill McAllister
Denver Post Washington Bureau Chief
August 15, 2001
WASHINGTON – A federal judge Tuesday unsealed disciplinary records of six Treasury Department lawyers accused of misconduct in a major lawsuit filed by a Colorado advocacy group and berated the Justice and Interior departments for not taking similar actions against their attorneys.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth appeared to question whether the punishment Treasury officials gave its lawyers was sufficient, but he was clearly upset by the failure of the other departments to discipline any of their representatives in a lawsuit over mismanagement of the 300,000 Indian trust accounts.
The punishments given Treasury lawyers, accused of hiding the destruction of 162 boxes of documents from the court, were minimal. Three were essentially cleared, one was sent to counseling, another received a critical letter and the sixth, who would have received a reprimand, left the government, escaping any discipline.
“Some members of the public may question whether Treasury went far enough in its disciplinary proceedings,” Lamberth said. He promised to review the matter, calling the disciplinary actions “a step in the right direction.” “The court concludes that the corrective action taken by Treasury – including this report – stands in marked contrast to the dearth of corrective action taken by the Interior Department and the Justice Department,” the judge declared. “Neither of those agencies has provided any report whatsoever – under seal or otherwise – demonstrating that they have held any attorney accountable in any way whatsoever for any misconduct in this litigation.”
In response to a lawsuit filed by the Native American Rights Fund of Boulder, Lamberth has held that the government has breached its trust responsibility to the Indians. That has set the stage for the government to make a full accounting of what could be $10 billion in missing funds. Dennis Gingold, a lawyer representing the Indians, said the punishments given the Treasury lawyers “was what we expected: a whitewash.” He said it was further evidence of how the government has attempted to protect its senior officials and has not punished lower-level ones for misconduct.
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