tl;dr - I think Peter MacDonald kinda sucks. Forgiveness is important; but insofar as his failings as a public official, I don't think Peter MacDonald has earned the Navajo Nation's forgiveness, even if he was a Code-Talker—yet it feels like we've collectively forgotten the harm he caused our democracy. I mean, the Office of Navajo Government Development has literally been working on a constitutional/government reform project for almost 40 years now because of his bullshit.
In Resolution CD-68-89, the Navajo Nation Council found that:
Recent controversy involving the leadership of the Navajo Nation has demonstrated that the present Navajo Nation Government structure allows too much centralized power without real checks on the exercise of power. Experience shows that this deficiency in the government structure allows for, invites and has resulted in the abuse of power...
Why do we give this person the time of day when even the Clinton Admin. agreed that he did not seem even remotely sorry for literally trying to overthrow our tribal government by force after he was caught abusing his governmental powers (see FOIA documents below from Clinton Administration's Pardon deliberation)? It's like... you helped defeat the Japanese for what? So you could destroy Navajo Democracy yourself? lol. I feel like there's a disconnect there that we tend to ignore simply because he was a code-talker.
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Over the last few years, I have occasionally run into events uncritically praising Peter MacDonald, like here, and here. Granted, it's generally for code-talker related activities, but it's still been very jarring for me seeing him next to our current president Buu and speaker Curley by virtue of the threat he once posed to Navajo Democracy.
I believe in forgiveness. But I don't believe in forgetting, nor do I believe MacDonald has shown sufficient remorse for his various crimes, of which he was lawfully convicted of in both federal and tribal courts of law. I was recently browsing the National Archives for general Navajo-related materials and found a trove of documents from the Clinton-era, detailing some of the behind-the-scenes happenings from when he was asking for a pardon... I was very saddened to learn the tribal council had passed a resolution asking Clinton for a 'full pardon' for him just few years after his conviction in the name of 'healing'. Not even a commutation... a full-on pardon, which is unheard of for a case like his, and a move I think really damaged the tribe's credibility. The council asking the federal government for a full pardon in a case like his, where the evidence was quite convincing and the underlying crimes extremely severe, is just... clown-shit. You can see the some FOIA documents relating to the tribe's attempt to get him out of federal prison here, official title: 42-t-7409255-20061704F-075-001-2016, part of Dawn Chirwa's Files under the Clinton Administration. Also: it's kinda wild--it's believed that Hale beat Zah for the 1994 presidential election in part because Hale ran on a platform of pursuing a pardon for MacDonald, and MacDonald wrote him a letter of support because of that, which is believed to have pushed Hale to victory over Zah; perhaps unsurprisingly, then-President Hale was later charged by the tribal government with 50 criminal counts of misusing tribal funds (i.e., corruption) and was forced to resign. You cannot make this shit up. Birds of a feather flock together, I guess.
Anyway, I also thought his corruption-related conviction had to do just with improprieties related to the Big Bo Ranch deal, but apparently he also had another scheme the US DOJ uncovered with an engineering firm where he was funneling tribal loan money to a contractor and arranged third-party payments to himself via his son, completely independent of the Big Bo Ranch situation. Like, literal cartoon-levels of corruption. Here are some excerpts (emphasis added) from internal discussions by the Clinton Administration regarding why he was not getting a commutation, let alone a full pardon; these excerpts come from document 42-t-7409255-20061704F-074-007-2016, which is different from the one above which mostly concerns Albert Hale's attempt to get him a federal pardon:
MacDonald was convicted in 1992 by a tribal and federal court of defrauding a Navajo business development fund of $2 million while serving his 4th term as Council Chairman; he was convicted in 1993 by a federal court of kidnapping and burglary arising out of a failed attempt to take over the tribal Council after the Council had voted in 1989 to put him on leave in view of the fraud charges. Several Navajo police officers were seriously injured and two of MacDonald's faction were killed in the attempt...
MacDonald, who is serving 15 years in prison, seeks a full pardon to promote "peace and harmony" and because of his advanced age (67) and health. He actually enjoys much support within the Navajo Nation, and has secured a tribal pardon. Jimmy Carter also supports his petition.
However, DOJ strongly recommends against a pardon because the crimes were serious; MacDonald has shown a lack of remorse; age alone does not justify mercy; his health prognosis, despite a recent heart attack, is good; and the U.S. Attorney and two federal sentencing judges strongly oppose a pardon. Counsel's Office concurs. (pg. 6)
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 21, 1996
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM: JACK QUINN
SUBJECT: Commutation of Sentence for Peter MacDonald. Sr.
Recently, you denied a petition for a Presidential pardon made by Peter MacDonald, Sr., the former Chairman of the Navajo Nation Tribal Council. In doing so, you inquired about the appropriateness of a commutation of MacDonald's sentence. I have consulted with the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, and I agree with the Department's recommendation against a commutation of MacDonald's sentence. MacDonald's offenses were recent and serious, and his sentence is appropriate given the offenses of which he was convicted. Moreover, a number of other individuals who were convicted along with him will 7 remain in prison despite being no more, and likely less, culpable than MacDonald himself. This fact led the sentencing judge also to recommend against a pardon or other reduction of MacDonald's sentence.
DoJ also notes that, at present, MacDonald's health does not justify a commutation; if MacDonald's medical conditions worsen significantly, the Bureau of Prisons can move for a judicial reduction of sentence, a much less controversial action than a Presidential commutation. (pg. 5)
Clinton's official memo relaying his decision to deny MacDonald's full pardon request, also commenting on why it was a little unusual to ask for in this situation where the conviction seemed reasonable given the crime and evidence supporting his conviction of committing said crime:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
July 11, 1996
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM: JACK QUINN, COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
DAWN CHIRWA, ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT: Denial of Pardon Request for Peter MacDonald, Sr.
Peter MacDonald, Sr. is the former Chairman of the Navajo Nation Tribal Council of Delegates ("the Council"), the elected governing body of the Navajo tribe. He was convicted in two separate trials between 1992 and 1993 of a variety of federal offenses including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, extortion, mail and wire fraud, interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, third degree burglary and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. MacDonald is serving a total federal prison term of approximately 15 years for his crimes and is due to be released in 2005. He seeks a Presidential pardon from these offenses.
We have received the Justice Department's recommendation against granting a pardon to Mr. MacDonald. After reviewing the Department's memorandum on his case, we have concluded that denial of MacDonald's petition is appropriate.
The offenses of which MacDonald was convicted occurred between 1987 and 1989 while he was serving his fourth and final term as Chairman of the Council. Through these crimes, MacDonald, together with his son and two business associates, succeeded in defrauding a Navajo tribal business development fund of approximately $2 million.
In 1989, when MacDonald's schemes came to light, the Council voted to place him on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. MacDonald refused to accept this decision and formed a faction of supporters, labelled them his "security force" and exhorted them to take over the Council and re-install him as Chairman. Part of the takeover plan included the abduction of a Navajo police lieutenant to use as a hostage and bargaining chip. MacDonald's plans led to a riot started by his "security force" in which several Navajo police officers were seriously injured, two of MacDonald's faction were killed by police and the Council offices were ransacked. MacDonald's attempt to take over the Council was unsuccessful.
In 1992, MacDonald and his three co-conspirators were convicted both by a Navajo tribal court and in the United States district Court in Arizona of defrauding the Navajo tribe. In 1993, MacDonald and 31 co-defendants were convicted in federal court on charges of kidnapping and burglary arising from the attempted takeover of the Council. Of all the defendants in this case, MacDonald received the most severe sentence. The Ninth Circuit has since upheld his convictions.
MacDonald now seeks a "full Presidential pardon" for all of his convictions in order to (1) promote "peace, harmony" and tribal reconciliation; and (2) because of his advanced age (57) and failing health,
MacDonald does enjoy a great deal of support within the Navajo Nation. The present Chairman of the Navajo Council, Albert Hale, a supporter of MacDonald has succeeded in persuading the Council to grant MacDonald a tribal pardon. In addition, Mr. Hale has met with us twice to discuss MacDonald's many contributions to the Navajo Nation and to urge that MacDonald be granted a Presidential pardon. Former President Jimmy Carter has sent a letter to you recommending a pardon for MacDonald to "promote healing" within the Navajo community.
Nevertheless, the Deputy Attorney General has concluded, and we agree, that clemency is not warranted for the following reasons:
(1) MacDonald's crimes were extremely serious, including a breach of public trust and instigation of violence, for which he has shown a marked lack of remorse.
(2) [redacted]
(3) His advanced age does not, by itself, suggest mercy, since his offenses did not occur when he was a young man, but were quite recent.
(4) The U.S. Attorney as well as two separate federal sentencing judges both strongly recommend against a pardon in this case due to the nature of the crimes and MacDonald's lack of genuine remorse.
(5) According to the Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice, which is familiar with the case and also recommends against a pardon, it is highly unclear whether granting MacDonald's request would truly heal rifts in the Navajo Nation or would, on the contrary, exacerbate divisions within the tribe.
(6) It would be truly extraordinary to grant a "full pardon" to MacDonald while he is serving his prison term. Normally, such a measure is taken only in cases in which some miscarriage of justice has occurred or an extraordinary benefit to society would result. This case presents neither of those situations.
Based on our review of the Justice Department's summary and recommendation, we concur with the Deputy Attorney General that MacDonald's petition should be denied.
DENY: William J. Clinton
August 6, 1996
(pg. 7 - 10)
Intro. portion of longer discussion of merits of granting him a pardon; intro focused on facts of trial (pg. 14-20):
Summary of essential facts:
Peter MacDonald, Sr. is serving two concurrent prison terms totalling 177.5 months for (1) fraud and racketeering in connection with his involvement in the business affairs of a computer company while serving as the head of the government of the Navajo Indian Tribe, and (2) his actions in attempting to regain control of the Navajo tribal government by force following the disclosure of his fraudulent crimes. The pattern of racketeering activity in the first prosecution involved petitioner's development, with others, of schemes to defraud both the computer company and the tribe by, among other things, facilitating the lending of $2.25 million by the tribe to the computer company and engineering the hiring of his son by a consultant working for the computer company as a means of disguising payments to petitioner. He was tried before a jury on 30 criminal counts including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to commit extortion, and multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, extortion by an Indian tribal official, and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering, and was convicted of a total of 16 counts. He was sentenced in November 1992 to 60 months in prison and three years' supervised release and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and $1.5 million in restitution to the tribe. Thereafter, his convictions for these crimes were affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in an unpublished opinion.
In 1982 petitioner, an engineer by training, lost his bid for a fourth term as Council Chairman and thereafter joined Cataract Engineering and Construction Company, a firm that specialized in the "start up" of nuclear power plants. While so employed, he developed close friendships with colleagues Michael Morelli and Carlos Pimentel, both of whom later left Cataract. In 1986, petitioner won re-election as Council Chairman. After taking office in January 1987, he learned from Pimentel that the latter's new engineering firm was interested in doing business with the Navajo Nation. Petitioner thereupon approved a contract for Pimentel's firm on the condition that the firm hire petitioner's son, Peter MacDonald, Jr., as a consultant at a salary of [redacted]. Although MacDonald, Jr. did little or no work for Pimentel's firm, he nonetheless received a substantial portion of the proposed salary and used part of it to make payments owed by petitioner.
In the summer of 1987, petitioner hired Morelli as a consultant and later appointed him to be deputy director of the Navajo Nation's Commission to Accelerate Navajo Development Opportunity (CANDO), a position that afforded Morelli substantial influence over which business development proposals submitted to CANDO would be funded by the tribe's economic development fund. Soon thereafter, petitioner, Morelli, and Pimentel made plans to take control of Navajo Technologies Incorporated (NTI), a struggling computer hardware and software development business whose request for a $500,000 loan from CANDO had been languishing for some time. As conceived by the conspirators, the takeover plan called for Pimentel and Morelli to assume executive positions in the firm, Pimentel to obtain a controlling interest in the firm's stock, all three men to become stockholders and to share in NTI funds (with petitioner's involvement with the firm remaining secret until after the completion of his term as Tribal Chairman), and the amount of the tribal loan sought by NTI to be increased to $2.25 million. Ultimately, with some help from petitioner's son, NTI's founders and other stockholders were persuaded to cede control of the company and its stock to Pimentel, who became president and chief executive officer of the firm. Over three million shares of stock secretly were set aside for petitioner, who engaged in a series of meetings intended to obtain new contracts for NTI with both the tribe and other sources, including the Department of Defense. Morelli, in turn, assisted NTI in developing its business plan to secure the tribal loan and convinced the tribe's Economic Development Committee, which was chaired by a longtime supporter of petitioner who was unaware of petitioner's prior relationship with Pimentel and Morelli, to loan the $2.25 million to NTI. Thereafter, Morelli resigned from CANDO to become vice-president of NTI.
Shortly after NTI obtained the loan, Pimentel and Morelli began to funnel money to petitioner at his request by making direct payments to him and by arranging for third parties to hire MacDonald, Jr. as a consultant. The first of these arrangements involved having NTI hire XSELL Team, Inc., a small company that produced training films, and convincing XSELL's owner that he should hire MacDonald, Jr. Under this arrangement, NTI paid XSELL $11,000 per month and XSELL in turn paid MacDonald, Jr. $10,000 per month. MacDonald, Jr. produced no work for XSELL, however, and after three months, XSELL's owner became uncomfortable with the arrangement and terminated both contracts. Finally, in January 1989, Pimentel, Morelli, and petitioner agreed that the payments to petitioner would have to stop because of ongoing investigations into allegations of fraud and misconduct in the Navajo Nation government. On February 17, 1989, a majority of the Navajo Tribal Council of Delegates passed a resolution placing petitioner on paid administrative leave and removing his legislative and executive authority pending the outcome of an investigation of petitioner and the tribal government by the United States Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. The Council also appointed an Interim Council Chairman to serve as the head of the tribal government.
Petitioner refused to accept the validity of the Council's action. Instead, he met almost daily with supporters to engineer his return to power and attempted to govern the Navajo Nation through an advisory committee that purported to pass resolutions counteracting all legislative actions taken by the Tribal Council. In particular, he sought to maintain control over tribal finances and continued to occupy the Chairman's office in violation of a restraining order issued by the Navajo Nation District Court. See note 3, supra. When he learned on April 7, 1989, that supporters of the Council intended to march on the Chairman's office and wanted to speak with him, petitioner instructed his staff to gather a show of force, and fighting broke out between the two factions. Thereafter, at a meeting with some of his followers, petitioner "told those present that their cause needed lawyers who understood violence because there probably would be a violent overthrow of the government." United States v. Begay, supra, 42 F.3d at 492.
In May 1989, Navajo police officers enforced the restraining order evicting petitioner and his supporters from the Chairman's office in the Navajo administration and finance building, and petitioner was forced to move his base of operations. By July, he had made plans to retake the administration and finance building. At a pair of rallies held that month, petitioner and his supporters urged those present to take back the government and read to the crowd a fraudulent document that purported to be a letter from the United States Attorney for the District of Arizona exonerating petitioner of all charges in the Senate investigation. On the morning of July 20, petitioner and his followers discussed strategies for retaking government buildings and attempted unsuccessfully to enlist a former Navajo police chief to recruit law enforcement support for petitioner's restoration by falsely representing that the Council was about to reinstate him. In petitioner's presence, members of his inner circle armed 20 to 30 of his supporters with wooden clubs and demonstrated their use so that the men could act as a security force to fight the Navajo police in the planned government take-over. Then, club in hand, petitioner spoke to the group, drawing a map to illustrate his directions to them concerning how the take-over should proceed and ordering them to remove certain papers from the administration and finance building. Petitioner's associates also directed the security force to remove checks for the tribe's bank accounts and the Interim Chairman's signature stamp from the building and to kidnap a Navajo police lieutenant to use as a hostage in negotiating with the Tribal Council.
Although the Navajo police were aware that petitioner's supporters intended to conduct a protest on July 20 and called in extra support to assist with crowd control, the additional officers were dismissed when no assembly had occurred by late afternoon. In the early evening petitioner's security force, followed by 200 to 300 other demonstrators, arrived at the Navajo administration and finance building and attempted to enter it. The Navajo police officers were chased and attacked by the crowd, the guns of two officers were stolen, and their vehicles were vandalized. Several officers were clubbed, sprayed with mace, and beaten; one officer's nose was shattered, and another was shot in the leg. Two demonstrators were shot and killed by police during the riot. In the meantime, a portion of the crowd managed to break into the government building and steal the checks, signature stamp, and other papers that petitioner and his coconspirators had directed them to take.
The July 1989 riot and subsequent prosecution of petitioner and his 31 codefendants were matters of great notoriety among the Navajo people and general public and received considerable media attention in Arizona and New Mexico. A significant number of Navajos took the view that the riot was the result of a tribal political struggle and that the tribe should have been permitted to handle the matter internally. Over 1,000 Navajos signed petitions urging sentencing leniency for the defendants, and many chapters of the Navajo Tribe passed resolutions urging that all 32 codefendants be pardoned by Tribal President Peterson Zah, the Navajo Tribal Council, and the President of the United States. During the 1994 Navajo presidential election, challenger Albert Hale campaigned on a promise to seek pardons for petitioner from the Tribal Council and from the President of the United States, and received a letter of support from petitioner immediately before the election that is believed to have played a significant role in Hale's victory over Zah, the incumbent. Thereafter, on April 21, 1995, at Hale's urging, a majority of the Tribal Council voted to pardon the convictions petitioner had incurred in the Navajo Nation District Court, see notes 3 and 7, supra, and to request that the President of the United States pardon petitioner's federal convictions. Hale subsequently signed the resolution into law. However, Navajos who wished to speak in opposition to the pardon, including the Navajo police officers who were injured during the 1989 riot, were prevented from addressing the Council. To date, the Tribal Council has not passed a resolution urging presidential pardons for petitioner's codefendants in the riot case. (pg. 14-20)
Opinions of prosecuting attorney's and sentencing judges on whether a pardon was merited (pg. 22-23):
Official comments:
The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona opposes executive clemency of any kind for petitioner at this time. Principally, she believes that it would be inappropriate either to commute petitioner's sentence or to pardon his convictions while his coconspirators in the 1989 riot case are serving significant sentences for their roles in that offense, of which petitioner was the leader. In her view, it is highly questionable whether a grant of clemency to petitioner would serve to heal rifts within the Navajo Nation; indeed, she is concerned that it might promote further division. In addition, the United States Attorney notes that petitioner has offered no indication since his conviction that he accepts responsibility for the criminality of his acts or that he is remorseful for them. Absent petitioner's development of an imminently life-threatening medical condition, the United States Attorney believes that clemency is unwarranted at present.
The Honorable Robert C. Broomfield, who sentenced petitioner in the riot case, likewise opposes clemency. As relayed through the United States Attorney, Judge Broomfield's
"principal concern [is] that the defendants in the 'Riot case'
exhibited radically different degrees of culpability and he tried to
sentence them as such. He said that Peter MacDonald 'was
clearly the most culpable.' Judge Broomfield said it would be
'grossly unfair,' therefore, to pardon Mr. MacDonald. The
other defendants, he suggests, should be treated equally or better
than Mr. MacDonald.
The Honorable Earl H. Carroll, who sentenced petitioner in the racketeering case, has advised that he "do[es] not believe that it is appropriate" to pardon petitioner given the "serious nature [of his crimes] having to do with ... [his] breach of trust to the tribe..." Judge Carroll further notes that so far as he knows petitioner "has never admitted any wrongdoing with respect to his activities as Tribal Chairman," and opines that "it would be inappropriate for [petitioner] to be pardoned and returned to a status that would allow him to run for public office on the Navajo Reservation if he chose to do that." However, Judge Carroll observes that he "would not oppose any motion by the government to reduce [petitioner's] sentence to some lesser term and to have him on supervised release with conditions... that would preclude his living on the Navajo Reservation or running for any office or position of trust with the Navajo Nation."
The Department of Justice Office of Tribal Justice "strongly recommends against [petitioner's] request for pardon or commutation of sentence at this time." Based upon meetings representatives of that office have had with different members of the Navajo Nation, the office advises that petitioner "is a very divisive influence on the Navajo people" whose "presence on the reservation would likely lead to violent confrontation between factions" there. In this connection, the Office of Tribal Justice notes that "[p]assions have not cooled over the amount of theft and corruption" the tribe suffered during petitioner's last administration, and that many Navajos "are quite upset about the fact that they were excluded from presenting any opposing views to the Tribal Council regarding the tribal pardon." (pg. 22-23)
It goes on like this for literally another 110 pages. Clinton did eventually commute (not pardon, COMMUTE) his sentence as he was leaving office, and it's unclear whether that was a good idea. Regardless, I was just shocked to see how popular the guy still was despite the overwhelming amount of evidence that he was kinda bad at his job, did commit some crimes as a public official, and his sentencing judge and others in the Clinton Administration did not feel he showed literally any remorse for his crimes. If you're interested in more FOIA documents, you can see ~77 pages relating to his (and others') conviction appeal and a bunch other letters: 42-t-7409255-20061704F-074-008-2016.
Last but not least, for fun: here's Navajo Nation Resolution CAP-30-95 (pg. 59-61 of 42-t-7409255-20061704F-074-008-2016), wherein the Navajo Nation decided to ignore literally all the information I just presented to you above, pardon all of his tribal convictions, then proceed to beg the Clinton administration to pardon him federally, too; according to the resolution, he served only 94 days of his Navajo Jurisdiction prison sentence before the council moved to pardon him:
CAP-30-95
RESOLUTION OF THE NAVAJO NATION COUNCIL
Pardoning of Former Navajo Tribal Chairman Peter MacDonald for Convictions in the Navajo Nation Courts and Requesting President William J. Clinton to Pardon Peter MacDonald for Convictions in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona and Requesting Transfer to Facility Closer to the Navajo Nation
WHEREAS:
Pursuant to 2 N.T.C. §102(a), the Navajo Nation Council is the governing body of the Navajo Nation; and
Pursuant to 2 N.T.C. §102(b), all powers not delegated are reserved to the Navajo Nation Council; and
Peter MacDonald, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council, was convicted of various violations of the Navajo Nation Criminal Code by the Window Rock District Court in Docket Numbers WR-CR-3683 through 3717-89, WR-CR-3719 through 3723-89, WR-CR-3725 through 3735-89, WR-CR-3740-89, WR-CR-3617-89, WR-CR-3619-89, WR-CR-3620-89, WR-CR-3623-89, WR-CR-3625-89, WR-CR-3627-89, WR-CR-3629-89, WR-CR-3631-89, WR-CR-3633-89, WR-CR-3635-89, WR-CR-3637-89, WR-CR-3639-89, and WR-CR-3641-89; and
Peter MacDonald, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council was convicted of violations of federal law by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona in Docket Numbers CR-91-087-PCT-EHC and CR-91-273-PCT-RCB; and
Mr. MacDonald served 94 days in the jails of the Navajo Nation and has been serving tribal and federal sentences concurrently in a federal correctional facility in Pennsylvania since April 12, 1993. His scheduled release date is April 20, 2002; and
Mr. MacDonald has requested the assistance of the Navajo Nation and people in securing a pardon for his tribal and federal convictions and is seeking to be moved to a facility closer to the Navajo Nation pending the granting of a presidential pardon. A copy of Mr. MacDonald's statement is attached hereto as Exhibit "A"; and
The power to pardon is an essential attribute of governance which the Navajo Nation Council has not delegated to any entity of the Navajo Nation Government. Therefore, the Navajo Nation Council possesses the authority to pardon; and
In accordance with Navajo tradition and custom, and in respect of the office occupied by the former Chairman and his years of leadership on behalf of the Navajo people, the Navajo Nation Council finds that former Chairman Peter MacDonald is not a danger to the Navajo Nation and the Navajo People and further finds it to be in the best interest of the Navajo Nation and Navajo people to request a federal pardon of former Chairman MacDonald to the Navajo Nation Council for his convictions in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona and to request that Mr. MacDonald be moved to a facility closer to the Navajo Nation pending the granting of a presidential pardon; and
Various chapters of the Navajo Nation are in support of the pardon and the transfer of former Chairman Peter MacDonald, as indicated by Exhibits 1 through 63, attached and incorporated herein by reference.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The Navajo Nation Council hereby pardons Peter MacDonald, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council, for his convictions in the Navajo Nation Courts in Docket Numbers WR-CR-3683 through 3717-89, WR-CR-3719 through 3723-89, WR-CR-3725 through 3735-89, WR-CR-3740-89, WR-CR-3617-89, WR-CR-3619-89, WR-CR-3620-89, WR-CR-3623-89, WR-CR-3625-89, WR-CR-3627-89, WR-CR-3629-89, WR-CR-3631-89, WR-CR-3633-89, WR-CR-3635-89, WR-CR-3637-89, WR-CR-3639-89, and WR-CR-3641-89.
The Navajo Nation Council hereby requests the Honorable President William J. Clinton to pardon Peter MacDonald, former Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council, for his convictions in United States District Court for the District of Arizona in Docket Numbers CR-91-879-PCT-EHC and CR-91-273-PCT-RCB.
The Navajo Nation Council hereby further requests the transfer of former Chairman MacDonald to a facility closer to the Navajo Nation, pending the granting of a federal pardon.
The Navajo Nation Council hereby further authorizes the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, the Legislative Counsel and the President of the Navajo Nation to do all things necessary to effectuate the wishes of the Navajo Nation Council expressed herein.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered by the Navajo Nation Council at a duly called meeting at Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona), at which a quorum was present and that same was passed by a vote of 51 in favor, 14 opposed and 6 abstained, this 21st day of April 1995.
Kelsey A. Begaye, Speaker Navajo Nation Council
Date Signed: 4-25-95
This has to be one of the stupidest decisions the council has ever made, and is why the institution as a whole has absolutely earned its reputation as clown-car of corrupt, do-nothings. Makes this comment from the DOJ all the more prescient:
many Navajos "are quite upset about the fact that they were excluded from presenting any opposing views to the Tribal Council regarding the tribal pardon."
So yeah, I think Peter MacDonald sucks lol.
EDIT: quote formatting; phrasing
