By Adrian Cruz

Law360 (May 12, 2020, 6:22 PM EDT) -- A federal watchdog told U.S. senators that it would investigate tribal governments' claims that Tara Sweeney, the assistant secretary for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, failed to follow ethics laws when deciding on the distribution of COVID-19 tribal stimulus funds.

Several tribal governments are suing the federal government over its decision to allow Alaska Native corporations, for-profit businesses that support tribal villages in Alaska, to receive a portion of the $8 billion set aside for tribes, arguing that the corporations should not be eligible for the aid. Before joining the Trump administration, Sweeney spent nearly 20 years working for one of those companies, the Arctic Slope Regional Corp.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., announced Monday that the U.S. Office of Inspector General for the Department of the Interior would investigate the allegations following a letter he sent in April expressing concerns about Sweeney's role in the funding allocation.

"As a central pillar of the federal government's coronavirus pandemic relief for Indian Country, the allocation and distribution of this funding to Indian Country must be done quickly, without bias, and without the appearance of any impropriety," Udall said in a statement. "The Trump administration's troubled handling of the distribution of tribal government relief cries out for robust oversight as Indian Country is experiencing some of the worst impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic."

Udall made the request last month, asking the inspector general to review the tribal allegations and to provide access to any documents related to Sweeney's potential conflict of interest.

Along with the request to investigate Sweeney, Udall asked the inspector general's office to review allegations that sensitive tribal data submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department's coronavirus relief fund portal was shared with people outside the government's executive branch.

"The administration — as a trustee — has a duty to be a good steward of any resources tribes place in its hands, including data," Udall said in his letter. "In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, tribal communities must have the confidence that information submitted for the purposes of aiding their communities is carefully protected."

Harold Frazier, chairman of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association, criticized the inclusion of Alaska Native corporations in funding under the CARES Act in an April letter, calling for Sweeney's removal for her handling of the issue. He claimed Sweeney has a conflict as a former Arctic Slope Regional Corp. official and that she "has lost the confidence of Indian tribes."

Sweeney was unanimously confirmed in June 2018 as President Donald Trump's pick for assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, making her the first Alaska Native and only the second woman to hold the job.

In a tribal suit looking to force the government to provide the full $8 billion allocated in the CARES Act, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta said Monday that the tribes haven't shown that the Treasury had gone so far past the law's April 26 deadline that he should compel the department to send the money.

Out of the first $4.8 billion that's been distributed, only $162 million was held in reserve for Alaska Native corporations if the court ultimately agrees with the department that they are entitled to a share, Jason C. Lynch of the U.S. Department of Justice said during a hearing Friday.

Representatives for the BIA and the Alaska Native corporations didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

--Additional reporting by Andrew Westney. Editing by Haylee Pearl.

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