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The Week in Review
ending February 23
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Vice President Dick Cheney with Jay Leno. Photo © Reuters.
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Missed the week's stories? Get a complete listing
here.
Want In The Hoop's list of the week's Winners and Losers? Wait no more.
Judge mulls contempt finding for Norton
After weeks of a tedious trial and some testy tribulations,
a federal judge heard closing arguments in Secretary of
Interior Gale Norton's contempt trial and set off to
decide whether to sanction her for the handling of
the Individual Indian Money (IIM) trust fund.
By the sound of U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth's
recent criticisms, the future doesn't look
bright for Norton and Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary
Neal McCaleb.
More than two years after his initial decision,
the Department of Interior has yet to commence
an historical accounting of the funds owed to
300,000 American Indians while numerous problems persist.
The state of affairs could leave the government paying millions in
dollars in fees to attorneys representing the
beneficiaries.
A decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Get the Story:
McCaleb talks
trust with Sam (2/19)
Norton
dropping Clinton policy (2/20)
Judge says
'duped' by government (2/21)
Judge blasts
Interior 'deception' (2/21)
Contempt
testimony concludes (2/21)
Norton trial
closes with arguments (2/22)
Defense on
security charge lacking (2/22)
Closing
arguments wrap up trial (2/22)
Indian Country wonders where funds are
More than a month after it said it would begin
processing lease payments to Indian landowners,
the Department of Interior admitted this week
there were still bottlenecks holding up the
much needed checks.
And more than a week after Deputy Secretary
J. Steven Griles told a Senate committee
he was "tired" of waiting on a federal court
for approval to operate a computer system,
the department still hadn't made oil and gas
royalty payments to tribes and individual
beneficiaries.
Where the money is, no one knows. But it's
not in the pocketbooks of thousands of
American Indians, many of whom have
gone desperately without funds since
November and face health, credit and
other problems, as attested to by
tribal leader Tex Hall during
the Bush administration's contempt trial.
Get the Story:
Letter: Dom
Nessi took my job (2/19)
email@nps.gov
sputtering through (2/19)
Royalty
checks still not out (2/20)
NCAI
President testifies on shutdown (2/21)
DOI: 'No
idea' on royalty payments (2/21)
BIA: Grazing
checks in 'backlog' (2/22)
more stories
There's still more to read in the recap
of the top stories.
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