Awake

Just Another Kink in the Chain of Command

Warning: may contain cynicism. proceed accordingly.

As the nation continues to reel in horror at the unearthed ghosts of its political and social history, the day-to-day operations of many branches of government continue, unimpeded. Apparently, in the Department of the Interior, directed by the infamous Gale Norton, that day-to-day business includes carelessly trashing government documents related to an ongoing lawsuit in which it is named and directly implicated. (Not to say that if it had destroyed the records "with care," it would improve their ethical, or rather, unethical, position.) Consider:

In the letter dated Sept. 13, NARA attorney Jason R. Baron said that members of the agency "noticed what appeared to be federal records in one of the dumpsters" at the main achieves building on Pennsylvania Avenue on Sept. 1. Among the records destroyed were documents from the 1950s from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Baron said.

Subsequently, "more of what appear to be Indian records were discovered in a wastebasket in the stack areas at Main Archives," Baron said in the letter. "It is not known if these two incidents are related."

If this had been the first time such (literally) destructive behavior had been spotlighted, it would be shocking. As it is, this anecdote is only added to a long line of "repugnant, desparate actions we've come to expect from Interior Secretary Gale Norton and her unethical managers," says Dennis M. Gingold, lead plaintiff for the Indians who are seeking a full accounting of their government-managed individual Indian Trust accounts. (Quoted here.)

The IndianTrust press releases are always good reading, whether they contain scathing judgements from the Court or the plaintiff lawyers, like this one, in which Gingold suggests that the only way to stop the Interior from destroying evidence is to toss Norton in the clinker:

"Despite numerous court orders to preserve records related to the individual Indian Trust, the Secretary and the Interior Department continue to destroy irreplaceable trust documents three blocks from the federal courthouse where they were held in contempt for destroying trust records. Unless — and until — Norton is thrown in jail, she will continue to destroy trust documents in order to undermine this 10-year-old litigation," he said. "When a sitting cabinet level official feels that they can destroy protected trust records 60 yards from where the Constitution is displayed, we have a government that is out of control." (emphasis mine)

Too bad he didn't add, "and throw away the key." My fear is others equally lacking in integrity and sound leadership will only take her place.

Link: Indian Trust - Cobell v. Norton Press Release:
Government Caught Destroying More Indian Records in Violation of Court Orders

(Oh, that justice would roll down like a river.)