Heffelfinger, NAIS, and the USA Purge
At a hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs this week, Thomas Heffelfinger got asked some questions about how the USA Purge related to his work–and that of Chiara, Charlton, Iglesias, McKay, and Bogden before they were fired. In his testimony, Heffelfinger noted that those USAs on NAIS who were fired were not just on the subcommittee, they were leaders on it. Of the meetings NAIS had, four of five were hosted by the fired USAs (Chiara was the only fired USA who did not host a meeting). Heffelfinger went on:
All of those five people were zealous advocates in their own districts for improving public safety in Indian Country and improving Indian Country’s role in our broader Homeland Security infrastructure. As to the specific reasons why individuals got put on that list I think you will have to ask Kyle Sampson [laughs] but it is not a mere coincidence that five of eight were leaders amongst Native American prosecutors.
You’d think that, after Heffelfinger made such a statement before Congress, someone would act on it. We may not have long to wait. From a local story on Heffelfinger’s testimony:
Heffelfinger was slated to attend a meeting at the Justice Departmenton Thursday afternoon but would not say with whom he was meeting.
And DOJ, which has given precisely no persuasive explanations for anyone (save Kevin Ryan’s) firing, wants you to know that a focus on Native American issues has nothing to do with the firing.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Heffelfinger’sassertions were false, suggesting that Heffelfinger had no evidencelinking the firings and work in Indian Country.
I say we bring back Kyle Sampson and ask him under oath!
well, hmph! This, with Mercer going back to Montana… very curious indeed! This sure seems like a lot of effort – to rearrange the DOJ – for the Native American Issues Subcommittee – seems like big, big money crimes must be covered up… Grines, was it? OIl and gas leases?
More than my poor tiny brain can process…
Old Coastie
There were several reasons for teh firing, usually in combination.
But the Native American issues is likely one of them. But the money is very big. Think Abramoff, gas and oil, and the 100 years we’ve been ripping of Native Americans, all rolled into one.
if this is the case I’m thinkin of, we’re talking REALLY BIG MONEY here
like â€MORE MONEY THAN WE’VE EVER PRINTED†kinda â€big moneyâ€
last I heard, the estimates were somewhere between 500 Billion to 5 Trillion dollars, and that was just going back to 1930 or so. That sum was just the â€Principle Amount Owedâ€. A court could be expected to award a reasonable interest on money that was wrongfully withheld from the lawful recipients.
we ARE talking about the lawsuit against the BOLM, and the Interior Department, right ???
the one where three Secretaries of the Interior have been cited for Contempt of Court ???
the lawsuit about the entire history of the government’s management of the funds of Native Americans as proscribed in the treaty of 1868 (or something like that) ???
from what I’ve heard, if we could figure out how much we actually owe the native Americans who were robbed, we could never afford to pay them back with included interests and stuff
what IS the compound interest on 5 trillion dollars, over a 20 year period (going back to the first contempt cite) ???
this could be one HUGE fucking bill, folks
and to tell the truth, I don’t think our government actually wants to figure that one out …
our government acts as if 140 years of looting and incompetence might just be forgotten
well, cept for the courts n stuff …
freepatriot, I’m going to nitpick you here:
as proscribed in the treaty of 1868
I’m hoping you meant prescribed, because ’proscribed’ is something completely other: it’s ’forbidden’.
Gold in the Black Hills as well as oil and gas.
Cobell v. Curtrent Sec of Interior case.
â€Heffelfinger noted that those USAs on NAIS who were fired were not just on the subcommittee, they were leaders on it.â€
Holy cow. That’s it. The WH was concerned about having anyone around who knew to much, and had the principles to want to see the right thing done.
This is DOI, land, gas and oil royalties, Abramoff, everything.
This is the piece of the puzzle for me that lets it all make sense. Wow.
yo, PJ Evans:
noted and remembered
your personally selected nit should be shipped to you in six to eight week …
and thanks for choosing us
frepatriot:
Thanks. (I’ve also seen it from professional writers, who really should know better.)
On the money that we owe the various nations: Not holding breath on this: DC has spent it all anyway (they put it into the ’wrong accounts’ and it ended up in the general fund or something similar). That’s assuming that the accounting could even be sorted out, which is a whole ’nother set of assumptions.
Perhaps we don’t understand yet exactly what Abramoff’s real intentions were with respect to gambling on Indian Reservations. I’ve always thought it was about something more significant than campaign contributions.
I read Heffelfinger’s testimony last week, and have been thinking about it a lot since then. Especially where he says, â€ask Kyle Sampson.†I’ve been writing about the Trust case for many years, but I don’t know if, in this case, that’s what he’s talking about. There might be something else going on here, something we’re missing. Now that the Cherokee election is over (and Abramoff-client Chad Smith re-elected, bah) I can focus more attention on trying to figure it out.