Monday, May 28, 2002

WEB ALERT

This morning the Court Monitor sent a letter to Department of Justice counsel Sandra Spooner and informed her that if she objects to his investigation she may bring those objections to the Court.

http://www.indiantrust.com/documents/2002.05.28_CMLtr.pdf

Citing, the Secretary's and her counsel's "checkered ethical and procedural discovery history," the Court Monitor informed her that he has no assurance that her or her client's "cooperation" would result in any clearer picture of trust reform if their conduct to date in this litigation is any measure.

"Considering the course of the checkered ethical and procedural discovery history of the Cobell litigation, your proposals and objections to my efforts to follow the Court's direction in its April 15, 2002 Order (incorporating Defendants' own request to have the Court Monitor proceed under the provisions of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53) do not lend themselves to any assurance that your intimations of cooperation and assistance in Defnedants' 'voluntary' participation in the Court Monitor's fact finding would result in the Court's obtaining any clearer picture of the status of trust reform than it has received from Defendants' voluntary or required actions in the last six-plus years of the litigation."

The Court Monitor has already informed Ms. Spooner that her and her colleague's conduct may warrant professional censure or other sanctions.

http://www.indiantrust.com/documents/2002.05.13_CMltr.pdf

And, the Court Monitor has requested materials from the Secretary that may implicate Ms. Spooner and her Department of Justice colleagues and their role in the obstruction of the Special Trustee and attempts to stymie trust reform.

http://www.indiantrust.com/documents/2002.05.23_CourtMonitorLetter.pdf


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