Thread by @NDNlawyer

Today I argued Doucette v. Interior @USIndianAffairs before the 9th Circuit, seeking to set aside PDAS John Tahsuda's corrupt decision to certify a Nooksack special election and re-recognize the Nooksack Council in March 2018. This thread explains the corruption. #swampthings

1/ In December 2017, the Nooksack holdover council stuffed the ballot box, right under the BIA Pacific Northwest Region's nose. Not a single ballot cast in the special election was validated by either postmark or voter signature. Not one.

2/ By mid-December 2020, two BIA officials expressed concerns to @USIndianAffairs about the election, according to this redacted memo from the Interior counselor who was assigned to Nooksack dating back to @lsroberts2's tenure as Interior PDAS.

3/ Enter Kyle Scherer, a brand new Interior counselor who quickly endeared himself to the Trump Administration's first PDAS, John Tahsuda, as well as to the former Nooksack Chairman's lobbyist, Robert Porter. Scherer was enamored with his Harvard Law ties to Porter.

4/ Meanwhile, we had sued the Nooksack holdover council for civil RICO violations and prevailed under Lewis v. Clarke before the District Court; and the holdover council appealed the trial court's refusal to hold them immune to the Ninth Circuit. turtletalk.blog/tag/rabang-v-k…

5/ In February 2018, Rob Porter emailed his new pal Kyle Scherer and asked that Interior @USIndianAffairs certify the special election results and re-recognize Nooksack by March 9, 2018, when the Ninth Circuit was scheduled to hear oral arguments in Rabang v. Kelly.

6/ On February 18, 2018, Rob Porter again emailed Kyle Scherer: "there is a March 8th hearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals...the AASIA's recognition decision is needed asap, certainly by early next week."

7/ The following week, on March 7, 2018, the BIA Pacific Northwest Region--at Scherer's behest--"declined" to decide how any special election ballot would be validated, whether by postmark or voter signature. No explanation was given. As a result, no ballots were validated. None.

8/ Hours later, on March 9, 2018, PDAS John Tahsuda re-recognized the Nooksack governing body. The letter was "surnamed" by only Kyle Scherer and an Assistant Solicitor in Denver. It was not surnamed by any @USIndianAffairs Solicitor in Washington, DC, in violation of protocol.

9/ Meanwhile, on March 9, 2018, @TheBroadman argued before the Ninth Circuit in Rabang v. Kelly. As it turned out, at the exact moment we were in the federal courthouse, Scherer had emailed PDAS Tahsuda's decision to Nooksack and bcc'd Porter. Scherer had delivered for Porter.

9/ In May of 2018, yours truly FOIA'd all communications with @USIndianAffairs regarding PDAS John Tahsuda's recognition decision. Kyle Scherer was asked for his emails. He played dumb. He ultimately refused to produce his emails with Rob Porter, in violation of FOIA.

10/ In the summer of 2018, we sued Interior to set aside PDAS John Tahsuda's recognition decision. Tahsuda's new counselor Tyler Fish soon certified the administrative record to the Court under penalty of perjury, but @USIndianAffairs concealed the Scherer-Porter emails.

11/ By 2019, @USIndianAffairs moved for summary judgment, expressing indignation that we would accuse Interior of conspiring with Beltway Lobbyists and assailing our lack of proof of arbitrary/capricious agency action. At that point, they had withheld the Scherer-Porter emails.

12/ After getting dismissed for lack of proof of arbitrary/capricious agency action, I specifically FOIA'd @USIndianAffairs for any communications involving Porter. That second request netted the Scherer-Porter emails and exposed Interior's illegality under both the APA and FOIA.

13/ Meanwhile, @RepRaulGrijalva asked @USIndianAffairs to identify "the names of any individuals participating in any meetings between BIA employees and registered lobbyists to discuss Nooksack" in 2017 or 2018. Interior ignored Rep. Grijalva's information request.

14/ Today Nooksack remains an illegitimate "government" thanks to Kyle Scherer and Rob Porter's illegal backroom dealing in early 2018. #swampthings