Beleaguered Navajo leader assails critics

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., in the throes of a fierce power struggle with the Dine' nation's Tribal Council, repeated Wednesday night that the effort against him is politically motivated because he's trying to crack down on council spending. Speaking at Arizona State University's College of Law, Shirley said he was placed on administrative leave earlier this week because the Tribal Council disagrees with his efforts to shrink the number of council delegates. "It's turned personal. . . . I don't know why I'm on administrative leave," he said. "I've asked for the allegations. I've ask for the investigative report. Nothing has been given to me. It's atrocious." Shirley was stripped of his authority one week after the council received investigative reports that implicate him and key members of his staff in possible ethical, criminal or civil violations, according to Joshua Lavar Butler, a spokesman in the Navajo Nation Speaker's Office...read more