The Journal-World has obtained the two letters, sent by Bureau of Indian Education Director Tony Dearman in January 2023. The BIE oversees Haskell under the U.S. Department of the Interior. In the letters, Dearman delegates authority to propose and execute disciplinary actions based on the findings of an on-campus investigation — and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a government watchdog nonprofit that sued the BIE last year, is claiming those letters corroborate the existence of an investigative report the agency has been trying to uncover.
As the Journal-World reported, PEER in July 2023 sued the BIE in an effort to obtain an investigative report detailing sexual assaults, embezzlement, theft and other crimes allegedly committed by Haskell employees — allegations that students claim were investigated in the second half of 2022.