Babbitt’s in deep legal kimchee

A federal judge this week held Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and another official in contempt of court for failing to turn over Indian trust records in a pending lawsuit. The suit claims mismanagement of American Indian trust funds by Interior and other departments.

Babbitt and another federal official were ordered to pay reasonable legal fees and other expenses resulting from their failure to comply with a November 1996 court order to produce the documents. Would US mainland taxpayers shoulder this cost or would it come from Mr. Babbitt’s pockets? I mean negligence originated in his defiance of a court order. Therefore, he must individually cough-out the money for legal and other expenses.

Federal Judge Royce C. Lamberth declared in his order: “The court is deeply disappointed that any litigant would fail to obey orders for production of documents, and then conceal and cover up that disobedience with outright false statements that the court then relied upon.

“But when that litigant is the federal government, the misconduct is even more troubling. I have never seen more egregious misconduct by the federal government,” Judge Lamberth said. I wouldn’t want to be in Babbitt’s position, but then Interior officials are reputable for doing something other than what is statutorily permissible. They’ve donned the hats of policymakers when theirs is strictly limited to law enforcement. This blatant abuse of assumed power is the forte of our lead federal agency.

Babbitt is also the subject of a separate independent counsel probe relating to his July 1995 denial of a casino license for three Chippewa tribes in Wisconsin, according to the Washington Times. The probe centers on whether Babbitt lied to a Senate Committee when he said politics played no role in the decision.

After the license denial, rival Indian tribes opposing the Chippewa bid gave $270,000 to the Democrats. Arizona lawyer Paul Eckstein testified that Babbitt told him the rival tribes were prepared to give $500,000 to the Democratic Party and that White House Deputy Chief Staff Harold Ickes had “directed him to issue the decision that day”. Babbitt has denied the accusations.

But even with Babbitt’s denials, the truth shall prevail as the case moves through the legal system. Babbitt can run up the desert mountains of Arizona, but he can’t hide. The opposing tribe will want the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” in this long legal journey.

Finally, anything under the sun, no matter how well hidden, will eventually pop-out voluntarily as decomposition sends that powerful stench through the air. It is embarrassing that a top-notch federal official like Babbitt would have the gall to disobey a federal court order. No wonder the lead federal agency is confused and in shambles!

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Moral decay of our country needs serious thinking, resolution and revival. I find it troubling that the principles of morality have been redefined by media polls. We tolerate rapists and drug users of famous athletes, political and Hollywood celebrities because the polls show they’re doing okay as alleged role models in their respective profession or career. It breeds suspicion and corruption in the highest offices of the land. It works aggressively fastforwarding the constant erosion of our moral principles. And we still want to read what the polls say?

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It would be interesting to find out what President Clinton would have to say if per chance, his daughter Chelsea works as a White House intern where she’s subjected to the “youthful indiscretion” of the nasty hands of a billy goat commander-in-chief. Yeap! I’m sure Bill Clinton would sadly be humming in soulful regret: “I’ve bent so long, I thought it was up”.