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FRIDAY, JANUARY 17, 2003

A federal court official for the Indian trust fund lawsuit on Thursday said he would refer a government attorney for disciplinary action for her refusal to turn over documents related to an historical accounting.

In a letter, Joseph S. Kieffer III said Sandra Spooner, the Department of Justice attorney, was refusing to comply with his request for the information. He said she still has not turned over two documents in particular.

The subject of Kieffer's inquiry relates to sworn testimony given by Bert T. Edwards, the chief architect of the accounting initiative. On December 18, 2002, he said former Special Trustee Tom Slonaker signed off on a proposed reconciliation of 8,000 trust fund accounts.

Kieffer is the special master-monitor. He was appointed by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to that position after serving for more than a year as court monitor.

Get the Letter:
Kieffer Letter to Spooner (January 16, 2003)

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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