Navajo Council Suspends Chairman Pending Probe of Kickback Charges
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Tribal Council suspended Chairman Peter MacDonald Thursday night, pending an investigation of allegations that he has accepted kickbacks from reservation contractors.
The council, after three days of debate marked by filibustering, voted 47 to 32 with three abstentions to place the 60-year-old chairman on administrative leave with pay for up to a year or until he clears his name.
The council rejected a plea by MacDonald to appoint his vice chairman as chairman pro tem and to provide MacDonald with expenses for legal counsel. They also refused a request to provide him with offices, support staff and access to any tribal records he needs to defend himself.
The council action followed two weeks of damaging testimony against MacDonald during Senate hearings in Washington into fraud and mismanagement of Indian programs and reservations. MacDonald has denied wrongdoing and complained that the Senate hearings were racist and a threat to the sovereignty of the nation’s largest Indian tribe. MacDonald will continue to received his $55,000 salary while the investigation continues.
Navajo tribal spokesman Tazbah McCullah confirmed Thursday that a federal grand jury in Phoenix has subpoenaed tribal documents.
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