Aaron Pettman (@aaronpettman.unbound.social.ap.brid.gy)

“Destroy to Fix”: Former Lawyer’s Aggressive Tactics Target Oklahoma School District Amid Assault Claims **Sign up today for First Watch!** Sign up Want to understand Oklahoma better? **Sign up for First Watch** and let Ted Streuli guide you beyond the surface of daily news. The Trump administration took down a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Native Americans from the Department of Justice’s website nearly 300 days ago to comply with an executive order against diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s still not back online, and the senators who worked to pass the law are furious. The Not One More Report was the product of The Not Invisible Act of 2020, meant to provide tribes with solutions to combat the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people and educate the general public about the crisis. The act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in his first term. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a moderate Democrat from Nevada who sits on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and introduced that act, said she was outraged to see the report had vanished from the federal forum. “It is astounding that an administration that actually signed these bills into law, that wants to address the issue of keeping our communities safe from violent criminals, including our tribal communities, thinks that this isn’t an important issue,” Cortez Masto said during an interview in her Capitol Hill office. The report was taken down amid a purge of material from federal websites that the Trump administration deemed DEI-related. Both Cortez Masto and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said they reached out to the administration to inquire about restoring the Not One More Report. ## the latest ### “Destroy to Fix”: Former Lawyer’s Aggressive Tactics Target Oklahoma School District Amid Assault Claims by Elizabeth Caldwell November 13, 2025 Murkowski said that she wants the report restored so that the information is out there. “If we don’t know what we don’t know, it’s pretty tough to say it’s a problem,” she said. Support Oklahoma Watch by donating today. Your contribution protects free speech, ensures accountability, and promotes transparency through unbiased reporting. In an era of misinformation, our investigative journalism empowers Oklahomans with fact-based stories. Defend Democracy, Donate Now! Sign up for Oklahoma Watch Newsletters to get daily and weekly insights: deeper context on Oklahoma news, crucial education updates, and important democracy observations, plus local photography highlights. * Democracy Watch Newsletter * Education Watch Newsletter * First Watch Newsletter Sign up Own the water cooler conversation with First Watch! Sign up to get Ted Streuli's insights on Oklahoma's biggest stories and stay informed. Sign up A commission including tribal leaders, human trafficking survivors, relatives of victims, and federal partners compiled the report from more than 250 testimonies from tribal members about how the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people has affected their lives. It also gave recommendations on how to alleviate the crisis, such as having the U.S. Marshals Service help tribal law enforcement address the MMIP crisis, the premise of legislation that Cortez Masto recently introduced alongside Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. On Feb. 3, more than a dozen tribal leadership and advocacy organizations sent a letter to the administration and several high-ranking lawmakers who work on tribal affairs, urging them to preserve tribal members’ legal status as a political class rather than a suspect racial class, and exempt tribal nations from DEI-related crackdowns. Less than a week later, Cortez Masto’s office noticed the Not One More Report was no longer available on the DOJ’s website. “It’s an epidemic of violence against Native women, Native people,” Senate Indian Affairs Committee member Tina Smith said. “If you want to solve a problem, you first have to see it and understand it, and that’s what that work was all about.” Cortez Masto said that she and Murkowski sent a letter to the administration asking why the report was taken down. The White House rsaid it was taken down in compliance with the executive order, which Cortez Masto’s office specified was the Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government order issued on Jan. 20. Cortez Masto said she’s received no other information from the administration or an explanation on why it sees this report as a DEI issue. The White House did not answer a question about whether it believes issues regarding missing and murdered Native Americans qualify as DEI issues and directed inquiries to the DOJ. A DOJ spokesperson said in a written statement that the report was removed to ensure compliance with OPM guidance regarding President Trump’s Executive Order Defending Women and that the Commission’s report is still available on numerous external websites. The spokesperson added that the joint DOJ/DOI response continues to be posted on the DOJ’s Tribal Justice and Safety website, and included this link to a page of archived content that does not include the report itself. The DOJ did not answer questions about whether it intends to restore the report. The Wayback Machine shows a PDF of the report was last available on Feb. 8. A “Page not found” message appears in its place on Feb. 9. An error message was still present on that page as of Nov. 13. “They think they’re a race,” Cortez Masto said. “They are ignorant to the fact of the trust and treaty obligation that we have to our tribal communities. “They don’t really care about addressing the violent crime in our tribal communities and Indigenous communities, and that has been very clear to me based on their reaction to the bipartisan letter from both [Murkowski] and I, to the comments that I get in the hearings when [nominees are] before me,” she said. Smith also described the administration’s re-classification of Native American nations from sovereign states to groups subjected to DEI. “The Trump administration continually, and seems to me, purposefully misunderstands the difference between Native people and tribal nations and other important and big groups in this country,” Smith said. “Tribal nations are not just another constituency. They’re sovereign nations, sovereign people, and it’s just so offensive to see that the administration isn’t interested in understanding what’s causing this epidemic of violence and what we should do about it.” Cortez Masto said she wanted to make it very clear to this administration that this is not a DEI issue, and that the recommendations in the report will continue to inspire more of her legislation. “They can try to keep it off of the website, but the report’s there,” she said.” The recommendations are there. The commission, I’m assuming, is still happening, and we’re still going to move forward to address it.” _This story was produced as part of a partnership betweenNOTUS and Oklahoma Watch._ _Em Luetkemeyer is a NOTUS reporter covering the federal government for Oklahoma Watch. Contact her [email protected]_ ## MORE FROM EM LUETKEMEYER ### Mullin and Cortez Masto File Bill to Allow Marshals to Help with MMIP Legislation, introduced on Thursday would allow the U.S. Marshals Service to help tribal law enforcement find missing children. In tribal law enforcement’s stead, the service would also be able to search for and arrest suspects with warrants. Under current law, the U.S. Marshals Service can assist local law enforcement but not tribal. The Tribal Warrant Fairness Act would amend that. October 25, 2025October 31, 2025 ### Republicans Will Need to Extend Their Funding Patch Deadline Soon, Cole Says House Republicans said a follow-up continuing resolution is needed as the Nov. 21 deadline approaches. Senate Republicans say more time is required and House Democrats push the chamber to resume work. Full appropriations remain stalled amid broader health-care and subsidy disputes. October 23, 2025 ### Lawmakers Aren’t Sure if Tribal Programs are Safe From OMB Shutdown Cuts The Trump administration followed through with threats to use the shutdown as an opportunity to slash federal programs. While some government-run programs for Indian Country are insulated from the lapse in funding, there is growing bipartisan concern that Native American nations will see cuts to critical programs. October 17, 2025 * * * ## Support our publication Every day we strive to produce journalism that matters — stories that strengthen accountability and transparency, provide value and resonate with readers like you. **This work is essential to a better-informed community and a healthy democracy. But it isn’t possible without your support.** Donate now Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Close window X ## Republish this article This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Most of Oklahoma Watch’s content is available for republication by other news media in print and digital form. Please follow these terms for republication: * Reporters’ bylines and photographers’ credit lines should be accompanied by “Oklahoma Watch.” * Include the Oklahoma Watch logo (found here). * Use the following credit line at the end of the story, with oklahomawatch.org hyperlinked online: _“Oklahoma Watch, atoklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.”_ __ # Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content by Em Luetkemeyer, Oklahoma Watch November 14, 2025 <h1>Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content</h1> by Em Luetkemeyer, Oklahoma Watch November 14, 2025 <div class="wp-block-custom-everlit-iframe-embed"></div> The Trump administration took down a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Native Americans from the Department of Justice’s website nearly 300 days ago to comply with an executive order against diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s still not back online, and the senators who worked to pass the law are furious. The <a href="https://www.niwrc.org/sites/default/files/files/34%20NIAC%20Final%20Report_version%2011.1.23_FINAL_0.pdf">Not One More Report</a> was the product of <a href="https://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ166/PLAW-116publ166.pdf">The Not Invisible Act</a> of 2020, meant to provide tribes with solutions to combat the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people and educate the general public about the crisis. The act was signed into law by President Donald Trump in his first term. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a moderate Democrat from Nevada who sits on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and introduced that act, said she was outraged to see the report had vanished from the federal forum. “It is astounding that an administration that actually signed these bills into law, that wants to address the issue of keeping our communities safe from violent criminals, including our tribal communities, thinks that this isn’t an important issue,” Cortez Masto said during an interview in her Capitol Hill office. The report was taken down amid a purge of material from federal websites that the Trump administration deemed DEI-related. Both Cortez Masto and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said they reached out to the administration to inquire about restoring the Not One More Report. Murkowski said that she wants the report restored so that the information is out there. “If we don’t know what we don’t know, it’s pretty tough to say it’s a problem,” she said. A <a href="https://www.doi.gov/priorities/strengthening-indian-country/not-invisible-act-commission">commission</a> including tribal leaders, human trafficking survivors, relatives of victims, and federal partners compiled the report from more than 250 testimonies from tribal members about how the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people has affected their lives. It also gave recommendations on how to alleviate the crisis, such as having the U.S. Marshals Service help tribal law enforcement address the MMIP crisis, the premise of <a href="https://www.notus.org/senate/us-marshalls-missing-indigenous-people-cortez-masto-mullin">legislation</a> that Cortez Masto recently introduced alongside Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. On Feb. 3, more than a dozen tribal leadership and advocacy organizations <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:21718dfe-1094-4091-849d-9b92818924be?viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover">sent a letter</a> to the administration and several high-ranking lawmakers who work on tribal affairs, urging them to preserve tribal members’ legal status as a political class rather than a suspect racial class, and exempt tribal nations from DEI-related crackdowns. Less than a week later, Cortez Masto’s office noticed the Not One More Report was no longer available on the DOJ’s website. “It’s an epidemic of violence against Native women, Native people,” Senate Indian Affairs Committee member Tina Smith said. “If you want to solve a problem, you first have to see it and understand it, and that’s what that work was all about.” Cortez Masto said that she and Murkowski sent a letter to the administration asking why the report was taken down. The White House rsaid it was taken down in compliance with the executive order, which Cortez Masto’s office specified was the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/">Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government</a> order issued on Jan. 20. Cortez Masto said she’s received no other information from the administration or an explanation on why it sees this report as a DEI issue. The White House did not answer a question about whether it believes issues regarding missing and murdered Native Americans qualify as DEI issues and directed inquiries to the DOJ. A DOJ spokesperson said in a written statement that the report was removed to ensure compliance with OPM guidance regarding President Trump’s Executive Order Defending Women and that the Commission’s report is still available on numerous external websites. The spokesperson added that the joint DOJ/DOI response continues to be posted on the DOJ’s Tribal Justice and Safety website, and included <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-and-interior-departments-outline-commitment-next-steps-effort-address-missing-or">this link</a> to a page of archived content that does not include the report itself. The DOJ did not answer questions about whether it intends to restore the report. The Wayback Machine <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250208004230/https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/34%20NIAC%20Final%20Report_version%2011.1.23_FINAL.pdf">shows</a> a PDF of the report was last available on Feb. 8. A “Page not found” message <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250209174003/https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/34%20NIAC%20Final%20Report_version%2011.1.23_FINAL.pdf">appears</a> in its place on Feb. 9. An <a href="https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/34%20NIAC%20Final%20Report_version%2011.1.23_FINAL.pdf">error message</a> was still present on that page as of Nov. 13. “They think they’re a race,” Cortez Masto said. “They are ignorant to the fact of the trust and treaty obligation that we have to our tribal communities. “They don’t really care about addressing the violent crime in our tribal communities and Indigenous communities, and that has been very clear to me based on their reaction to the bipartisan letter from both [Murkowski] and I, to the comments that I get in the hearings when [nominees are] before me,” she said. Smith also described the administration’s re-classification of Native American nations from sovereign states to groups subjected to DEI. “The Trump administration continually, and seems to me, purposefully misunderstands the difference between Native people and tribal nations and other important and big groups in this country,” Smith said. “Tribal nations are not just another constituency. They’re sovereign nations, sovereign people, and it’s just so offensive to see that the administration isn’t interested in understanding what’s causing this epidemic of violence and what we should do about it.” Cortez Masto said she wanted to make it very clear to this administration that this is not a DEI issue, and that the recommendations in the report will continue to inspire more of her legislation. “They can try to keep it off of the website, but the report’s there,” she said.” The recommendations are there. The commission, I’m assuming, is still happening, and we’re still going to move forward to address it.” This <a target="_blank" href="https://oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/trump-administration-removes-report-on-missing-and-murdered-native-americans-calling-it-dei-content/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://oklahomawatch.org">Oklahoma Watch</a> and is republished here under a <a target="_blank" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/oklahomawatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/okwatch-icon.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://oklahomawatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=752923&ga4=G-6G6K9FYSH8" style="width:1px;height:1px;"><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: "https://oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/trump-administration-removes-report-on-missing-and-murdered-native-americans-calling-it-dei-content/", urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id="parsely-cfg" src="//cdn.parsely.com/keys/oklahomawatch.org/p.js"></script> Copy to Clipboard 1 https://oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/13/destroy-to-fix-former-lawyers-aggressive-tactics-target-oklahoma-school-district-amid-assault-claims/