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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2002

Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb is being questioned under oath today about his destruction of e-mails against court orders.

The deposition is being handled by special master Alan Balaran, a court investigator in the Cobell Indian trust fund lawsuit. It is the first time McCaleb has been called to testify in person about his handling of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust.

The subject of the deposition is McCaleb's repeated destruction of electronic documents. From December 1, 2001, to October 1, 2002, he said he failed to follow proper procedure to preserve the e-mails.

The Department of Interior is under court order to preserve all records, communications and other information related to the Indian trust.

Relevant Documents:
Balaran Calls for McCaleb Deposition (11/24) | McCaleb Seeks Delay in Response to Balaran (11/14) | Special Master Letter on E-Mails (10/20) | DOI Memo: E-mail Backups (November 2001) | DOI Report: Allegations Concerning Conduct of Department of the Interior Employees Involved in Various Aspects of the Cobell Litigation (June 2002)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

Related Stories:
Interior's casualties of war (11/25)
McCaleb resigning from BIA (11/22)
17 months at arm's length (11/22)
Court cites 'troubling record' at Interior (11/14)
McCaleb admits to e-mail 'misunderstanding' (10/23)
Interior admits to more destruction of e-mails (10/22)
Probe raises more questions than answers (08/07)
DOI investigation released (8/7)
No one to punish for destroyed e-mails (4/10)
Request for trust fund probe rejected (11/7)
Internal trust fund investigation sought (8/22)