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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2002

Attorneys for 500,000 Indian account holders on Friday said they would file a motion to force acting Special Trustee Donna Erwin to testify a second time about her knowledge of trust reform.

Erwin appeared for a deposition in Washington, D.C., on Friday. She was forced to testify there after a federal judge said she "deliberately" mislead the court about her work plans and schedule.

But attorneys for the Indian plaintiffs say the deposition was cut short by the Department of Justice once they began to ask questions about that incident. They are asking U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to compel further testimony.

Erwin was appointed acting Special Trustee by Secretary of Interior Gale Norton after her predecessor, Tom Slonaker, was ousted by top Bush officials. She works full-time in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has not relocated to D.C. as Slonaker did.

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

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Norton proposes divide and conquer (11/6)
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Court probes Norton's trust fund report (10/11)
Court moves BIA intimidation case forward (10/04)
Judge rejects Norton's 'absurd' accounting claim (9/23)
Norton's witness on TAAMS does damage (09/23)
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