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| Tuesday August 21, 2001 |
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| 300,000 Indians cheated by incompetent feds |
The Seattle Times
A shameful tale of greed, incompetence and bureaucratic menace gets uglier with each new revelation in court.
The U.S. government, through the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Treasury Department, has mishandled epic sums of money held in trust for Native Americans.
The time is ripe for the government to hang its head and start writing checks. A prudent withdrawal is the only saving grace for taxpayers.
As many as 300,000 Indians have been cheated out of lease and royalty receipts collected on reservation lands. After the fits and starts of a five-year trial, no one seems to disagree.
Certainly not U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who presides over the trial, and at various times has had to horse-whip the federal government to cooperate. During the Clinton years, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin were cited for contempt of court.
Indian plaintiffs in a class-action suit estimate the government owes as much as $10 billion. Government lawyers say, with a straight face, that provable amounts are much less.
In addition to 100 years of botched record-keeping, the federal government was caught destroying 162 boxes of payment records, checks and financial documents related to Native-American trust accounts.
Court records unsealed last week revealed that Treasury Department attorneys involved received light punishment, and 2,000 attorneys were given retraining in legal ethics and federal court rules.
Considering the breach of faith, and the stakes, the reaction comes off as almost smug and cavalier. No one lost their job.
No one would have learned of the details if the publishers of the Wall Street Journal had not pressed the court.
The wholesale destruction occurred at a Treasury Department facility while Rubin was under a contempt-of-court order because he failed to produce documents sought by tribal attorneys.
This case represents a violation of trust stretching over 100 years. Payments are owed and long overdue. Years of stalling and duplicitous government behavior only compound the insult and injury.
Do what it takes to settle a historic wrong driven by what the judge described as greed for tribal land holdings and a quest to eradicate their culture. This is an opportunity for the Bush administration and Interior Secretary Gale Norton to be the new broom that sweeps clean.
Every penny owed ought to be paid with contrition and humility.
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« August » « 2001 »
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article |
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| 08/28/01 |
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Trust fund holders call for contempt |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/27/01 |
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Plaintiffs press judge to hold Norton, other government officials in contempt |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/25/01 |
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Total Lack of Trust |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/24/01 |
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Peter Maas, Writer Who Chronicled the Mafia, Dies at 72
Mr. Maas's last article, scheduled to appear Sept. 9 in Parade magazine, was an interview with Elouise Cobell |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/22/01 |
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Lawyer urges Interior misconduct probe |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/21/01 |
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300,000 Indians cheated by incompetent feds |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/20/01 |
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Der Bund (Berne, Switzerland)
Where did the money go? |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/19/01 |
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A tale of deceit, abuse in D.C.
Report: Interior lied about system tracking Indian trust accounts |
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| 08/17/01 |
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Justice plans action for destroyed trust records |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/17/01 |
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No more delays on trust fund |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/15/01 |
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Light punishment for destroyed trust fund records |
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| 08/15/01 |
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Treasury Department Retrained Lawyers After Rubin Was Cited in Case, Papers Say |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/15/01 |
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U.S. agency admits errors in Indian case; Records destroyed on cash payouts |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/15/01 |
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Discipline records on trusts unsealed |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/15/01 |
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Treasury inquiry finds no wrongdoing in destruction of Indian affairs documents |
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| 08/10/01 |
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Interior Dept. Misled Court On Reforms, Report Says |
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| 08/10/01 |
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Court report criticizes trust fund software |
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| 08/10/01 |
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Babbitt Misled Judge About New System For
Indian Trust Funds, Report Alleges |
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| 08/09/01 |
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Computer system designed to track Indian money may not be salvageable |
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[ view ] |
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| 08/07/01 |
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Trust fund holders want trial against Bush officials |
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