By Robert L. Jackson
TIMES STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON, DC-Government officials under fire for mismanaging billions of dollars in trust funds belonging to Native Americans shredded 162 boxes of records a year ago and hid the destruction for three months, a federal judge disclosed Monday (12-06-99). U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who has been working to rectify decades of negligence in the government's handling of Native American trust funds, said that he was "deeply disturbed" by delays in reporting the destruction of records but would postpone any sanctions for the time being. (This means that the Federal Government is guilty of tampering and destruction of evidence. WFI Editor)

The disclosure is the latest development in a long-running class-action lawsuit against the government filed on behalf of 300,000 Native Americans, and it comes as a court-appointed mediator continues to try to resolve government mismanagement of the funds. Analysts said that the development further weakens past government arguments that federal officials are capable of instituting needed trust fund reforms on their own, without court supervision.

Treasury Department lawyers who learned of the shredding ordered it halted January 28^th. But they initially failed to recognize the relevance of the old records that had been destroyed or their obligation to inform Lamberth of what they viewed as routine document destruction, a court-appointed investigator concluded. (If any private concern shredded documents relevant to a court case, that concern would wind up in court facing felony charges of destruction of evidence, and no one would accept the excuse that it was "routine document destruction." WFI Editor)

"This is a system clearly out of control," investigator Alan Balaran wrote in his report, which was made public by Lamberth. Treasury said that the boxes contained government forms "reflecting disbursements made by… federal agencies from the beginning of the 20^th century until approximately 1958" and were stored in the basement of a federal facility in Hyattsville, Maryland, a Washington, D.C., suburb.

The halt to the shredding took place about the time Lamberth was concluding a trial on the government's conduct in the class-action lawsuit. He ultimately cited then-Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit for contempt of court for failing to insure that other government documents were turned over to the Native American plaintiffs. The latest action shows that Treasury's statements about preserving relevant documents "turned out to be… false representation," the judge said.

Justice Department attorneys asked Lamberth to delay making public the investigative report, contending that it could cause "severe and unfair damage" to the reputations of several Treasury lawyers interviewed in the shredding inquiry. But Lamberth rejected that request, contending that the lawyers had failed to "come forward forthrightly" to alert him at the time of the infraction. "While the court certainly understands the motivation of the affected individuals who have sought to keep this report under seal, the court must express its disappointment that the United States would join their efforts," Lamberth said in his order denying the request.

Keith Harper, an attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, which has spearheaded the lawsuit, told reporters that the document destruction "bolsters our argument that there needs to be judicial supervision if trust fund management is to be reformed." Eloise Cobell, the lead Native American plaintiff, added: "We're tired of the cover-up. We can understand that documents may have been destroyed, but why not just come forward and admit it? It shows the government does not take this case seriously."

The trust funds were established in the 1830s during the Andrew Jackson administration, part of a government effort to compensate individual Native Americans for use of their land while weakening tribal control of valuable assets. (Andrew Jackson was one of the most unpopular presidents of all time among Native Americans. His "removal" of the Cherokee over the Trail of Tears is the equivalent of ethnic cleansing today. The Federal Government sought to break down the tribes from its very origin, recognizing in the tribal organizations opposition that could challenge its supremacy. Every policy of the Federal Government and the BIA has been in that direction, which is why compensatory funds are paid to individuals, instead of tribal chiefs. Additionally, the Federal Government forced the Native Americans to abandon their traditional hereditary chiefs, in favor of "democratically elected" tribal governments, which were the only tribal authorities the Federal Government would fund. The Native Americans have always had a low voter turnout because the majority still honor their hereditary chiefs, despite the best efforts of the Federal republic. WFI Editor)

The government is supposed to manage the accounts and pass along royalties from the sale of petroleum, timber and other natural resources. The government says that it has deposited about $350 million each year into the accounts. But officials have been unable to give an accounting of where all the money has gone, citing damage to old documents and an antiquated record system.

SOURCE: Excerpted from the 7 December, 1999, issue of the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Edition, from an article entitled, "Officials Destroyed Records on Native Americans, Judge Says." Reprinted in the public service of the national interest of the American people.