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THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2002

The ink was barely dry on Secretary of Interior Gale Norton's latest status report on trust reform before she was asking for permission to delay the next one.

When Norton two weeks ago yesterday filed the 8th quarterly report, which she signed personally, she told U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth she wanted to alter the timeline for future reports. In a court motion, her attorneys said she should be allowed to submit the follow-up in May instead of March.

Part of the reason was that the 8th report covered five months instead of the typical three. But that's because Norton turned it in late, just as she did with the 7th.

Her attorneys added that she had better things to do, such as reorganizing her department's trust duties over the objection of tribes.

As such, the request should be denied, attorneys representing 300,000 American Indians said in a response of their own. "Therefore, while offensive on its face, Secretary Norton's threat 'to divert resources from trust reform' rings hollow as the Secretary of the Interior is not even at the 'starting gate' and cannot or will not being to implement trust reform in the next two months, two years, or two centuries," they wrote.

"Delaying quarterly reports three more months only to learn that the Interior Secretary has made more plans to make plans accomplishes nothing," they added.

When Lamberth in December 1999 made his landmark trust fund ruling, he ordered the department to provide him updates every quarter. Since then, the department has fought over the contents of the reports, which culminated in the refusal of the top trust official to certify the 7th report last fall.

In related litigation issues, attorney Dennis Gingold asked special master Alan Balaran on Tuesday to impose sanctions on the government for continued destruction of documents. During contempt proceedings last month, a Department of Treasury attorney informed the Cobell plaintiffs of a box of destroyed records.

But according to Gingold, there was more to coverup, as additional Treasury records and General Accounting Office records continue to be destroyed.

Related Documents:
Opposition to Interior's Motion to Reset Schedule for Interior's Ninth Quarterly Report (1/30) | Gingold Letter (1/29)

Today on Indianz.Com:
Federal judge resuming Norton contempt trial (1/31)
Today in Indian Trust (1/31)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://130.94.214.68/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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