US Attorney: Critic hides contempt for tribes

Wednesday, January 3, 2007  

The following was submitted by Troy Eid, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, in response to an opinion by Phillip T. Doe that was published in the The Denver Rocky Mountain News. Doe is chair of the Citizens Progressive Alliance, a group that opposed the Ute water rights settlement in Colorado.

It is a matter of public record that I have NEVER represented or lobbied for any gambling or gaming interests of any kind, Indian or non-Indian. So Phillip Doe's personal attack on me is untrue as well as cowardly.

Doe, chairman of the Citizens Progressive Alliance (and a longtime opponent of the Animas-LaPlata Water project that settled longstanding water-rights claims by the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribes and the Navajo Nation), also tries to smear me by falsely linking me with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

I was employed in the same 1,600-attorney, 34-office law firm - as a partner in Denver in the Litigation Section - starting at about the time that Abramoff was terminated as a lobbyist in the Washington, DC office. We NEVER worked together, in any capacity whatsoever, prior to my own background investigation, nomination by President Bush, and unanimous US Senate confirmation approval as Colorado's United States Attorney.

By lamely trying to discredit me, Doe struggles to deflect attention from his own apparent contempt for Indian people and tribes.

We've heard Doe's supposedly "complex" racism before: That Colorado's two tribes, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute nations, ought to fix their public safety problem because, as he puts it, they've earned some money through successful tribal businesses.

The truth is that Indian nations (by federal court rulings and Congressional legislation) are forced to depend on the federal government for much of their law enforcement and adjudication needs, particularly when it comes to fighting and preventing violent crime. Those of us in federal law enforcement have a corresponding duty to strengthen public safety on America's Indian reservations.

Both Colorado's tribal governments are working hard to address this challenge, as is US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Colorado's Congressional delegation. Doe's blame-the-Indians approach is a reminder of how far we still must go to ensure equal access to justice for all Americans.

Troy A. Eid
United States Attorney
District of Colorado

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