Copyright © 1998 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Senator Don Nickles, Jim Inhofe and Rep. Tom Colburn, requested audits by federal agencies that allocate funds to the Cherokee Nation. According to news reports Nickles said that he is troubled by allegations of financial wrongdoing in the Cherokee Nation and a report by the U.S. Department of Interior's Inspector General.

News reports quote Nickles statements on Saturday regarding the Interior Department Inspector General's audit conclusion... "The net essence of it was that "Hey, the books are in such bad shape we can't really find out what happened." And I'm not satisfied with that report," said Nickles. "I want to find out what the truth is. We have financial responsibility to see that federal tax dollars are used correctly, not abused."

Senator Nickles said he plans to seek additional meetings with the inspector general and Justice Department on the issue.

Go Nickles.... we stand in support of that!!!!

It appears that Senator Nickles is not buying the "it is in-auditable" because of computer problems and lack of documentation either, and that he is absolutely not satisfied with Babbitt's Interior Department's Inspector General's audit report. We are glad, because neither are we.

We need to fax, write letters, and email Senator Nickles letting him know that we appreciate his work on our behalf and at our request. We need to encourage our Congressional representatives to continue their investigation of the Byrd administration's financial status and it's history!

Does it surprise anyone that Babbitt's inspector general would come up with a statement such as the books are in such bad shape they can't find anything? I think not. Over the last many months we have observed that this is the typical and expected way of conducting business in the Clinton appointee Babbitt's Interior department. The Babbitt staff and the BIA can't come up with any direct answers regarding anything to do with the Cherokee Nation federal funds because apparently they are more concerned with protecting their own and the DNC's political status rather than the Cherokee tribal members and the American taxpayers! They can dole out all that money, but don't ask them to be accountable for what happens to it, especially under the circumstances.

We want the answer to our question... where has the money gone Joe? Show us the money!

Don Vaughn, according to the Stipe owned Tahlequah Daily Press said that it would be mid-June before the tribe will have a clear picture of its finances. Don Vaughn also contradicted Byrd and others claims that the Fundware Software Program was in place, keeping the records and when Byrd took over from the Mankiller administration. Vaughn was quoted in the Tahlequah Daily Press as saying... the tribe did not immediately understand the severity of the problems with the records until after it began installing the program in 1996. Sure wish they would refrain from saying the "tribe" did not know these things... tell it like it is... Byrd and his executive branch staffers claim they did not know or and obviously did not report those things!

Vaughn statement provokes a question... are we now understanding that the program wasn't even installed before 1996? Interesting. In 1995 computer experts who were employed by the tribe tried to tell Byrd, Battles and anyone who would listen that the program would never work. But obviously Byrd, Battles and others ignored that expert advice and chose to take the advice of a vendor who was making hundreds of thousands off the tribe by insisting that it would work, and that all those experts did not know what they were talking about. Now that is real management incompetence. Since when does a buyer take the word of the "seller" who obviously has a conflict of interest in advising the buyer, and a blatant monetary motive for convincing the buyer that their product is the one for them. Especially when highly paid, highly professional professionals with no vested interested monetarily except to do the best job they can do for their paycheck by advising their bosses about the fact that the FundWare system would never interface with the tribal system no matter what FundWare tried to do resolve the apparent problems. The experts advised that FundWare reps. were two years behind on their agreed upon contract for having the system up and working and thousands of dollars over the agreed upon cost! But this obviously didn't bother Byrd, Battles and the rest of management over there in the Byrd administration!

It would probably be a good idea if the Council members asked to see the original FundWare Contract and the details of their agreement. Weigh the original terms and timelines against the actual time and cost to date, and take a close look at those differences.

They should also request a report from the tribe's computer systems experts regarding their evaluation of the situation, and it would be a great idea if they requested a similar report from the Battles' fired computer expert who first brought those problems to the attention of the Chief and Battles back in 1995!

Maybe this vendor and their contract need to be brought to the attention of tribal attorneys.

I swear it is hard to tell where incompetence leaves off and malicious intent begins and vice-versa with Byrd and his staffers.