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| Wednesday January 16, 2002 |
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| Judge sets stage for Norton testimony |
Attorney plans to call Interior secretary to stand to defend herself in contempt proceeding
by Christine Dorsey Stephens
Wshington Bureau
Las Vegas Review-Journal
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge on Tuesday set the stage for Interior Secetary Gale Norton to testify in a lawsuit over the mismanaged Indian trust fund, saying the Interior secretary needs to show him why she shouldn't be cited for contempt for failing to make progress in fixing the system.
Meanwhile, attorneys for lead Indian plaintiff Eloise Cobell said they will call Norton to the stand to defend herself in the contempt proceeding against her and her deputy, Bureau of Indian Affairs chief Neal McCaleb.
During Norton's contempt trial Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth formally adopted a Nov. 14 report by a special master he had appointed, Alan Balaran.
Balaran's report outlined security breaches within the Interior's trust fund management system.
It detailed how a hired computer hacker was able to break into trust fund accounts, prompting Lamberth on Dec. 5 to order all computer systems within the Interior Department taken off the Internet if they had any contact with the trust fund accounts.
The order has meant the public cannot access many popular Internet destinations, such as the National Park Service and other recreational sites.
The judge later issued an emergency order giving Interior permission to access certain computer systems so the agency could issue royalty checks to Indian trust clients.
But as of Tuesday, most systems within Interior still were not operating.
Lamberth asked Norton's attorney, Sandra Spooner, whether this was a case of "Washington Monument Syndrome," suggesting Norton was purposely keeping popular Internet Web sites offline to pressure the court to reverse the shutdown order.
"It's a more difficult situation," said Spooner, noting that the department is proceeding with caution as it figures out how to secure all of its public sites from hackers who might be able to access Indian trust data through the Web.
Spooner said delays by Lamberth's special master to approve the security work is partly responsible for the slow progress.
Dennis Gingold, an attorney for Cobell, questioned Norton's motives.
He noted that computer systems that handle paychecks for Norton and her staff appear to be up and running, while the system that disburses checks to Indian trust recipients is still down.
Tuesday's order did not cite Norton with contempt, nor did Lamberth place the trust fund into court-ordered receivership, which Balaran had recommended.
Instead, the judge said Norton will have to prove that Balaran's report is erroneous, and convince the judge that it should not be used as evidence against her in the contempt proceeding.
"It's on her shoulders," Gingold said. He said he will ask Norton to testify.
Norton's Justice Department attorneys would not comment on Tuesday's order.
Norton also declined to comment on Tuesday's development, or on the plaintiffs' intention to call her to the stand.
Her spokesman, John Wright, issued a brief statement: "Secretary Norton had one time served as attorney general for the State of Colorado. She understands the law and shares a unique respect for it and will to everything she can to legally comply with the requirements of the court."
Norton's attorneys have defended her against contempt charges in federal court since Dec. 10.
The contempt proceeding is a sidebar in a five-year-old case against Interior officials over mismanagement of billions of dollars held for individual Indians.
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