The following reproduced letter was written to the Honorable Edward M. Kennedy, United States Senate, 317 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510, on January 4, 2003:

Dear Senator Kennedy,

I graduated from Yale College in 2000 and matriculated at Northwestern University School of Law last fall. I co-authored the first study of the number of women in National Institutes of Health cardiac trials, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on August 17, 2000. I am founding a charity to combat terrorism, Biometrics Council of which I am President, and [currently attend University of Nebraska Law School]. The statements that follow do not reflect the views of my colleagues.

On June 12, 1975, the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources approved the nomination of William Janklow to serve on the Board of Legal Services Corporation for a vote before the full Senate.

I was informed by former United States Senator James Abourezk that the alleged rape of Jancita Eagle Deer by William Janklow was raised in the context of his Senate confirmation. Mr. Janklow filed a defamation lawsuit against Newsweek for their reporting the rape allegation, which was dismissed. In the opinion by the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, the Court held:

"Rape is one of society's most reprehensive crimes. The claim of rape referred to by Newsweek was made over fifteen years earlier, and was investigated at that time by federal law enforcement officials who found insufficient evidence to prosecute. It was investigated again in 1975 by the F.B.I., the White House, and the Senate Judiciary Committee when Janklow, then the Republican Attorney General of South Dakota, was nominated for a position on the board of the Legal Services Corporation. The Senate Judiciary Committee was composed of, among others, Senators Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale and Allen Cranston, none of whom have [sic] any reputation for whitewashing misdeeds of Republican officeholders. The F.B.I., the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee determined that the rape claim was unfounded and without any factual basis…" (Janklow v. Newsweek, March 29, 1984).

I have written Attorney General Ashcroft regarding the failure of the United States Attorney for the District of South Dakota to prosecute Mr. Janklow for the alleged rape of Jancita Eagle Deer. I believe that failure was tantamount to obstruction of justice. I encourage you to review that letter, as well as a Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court disbarment order of William Janklow dated October 31, 1974 in which Ms. Eagle Deer testified that she was raped at gunpoint by Mr. Janklow. Additional evidence includes an affidavit executed by Dr. Kent Bergh, formerly of the Indian Health Service, who also testified in Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court that he had reviewed the medical chart of Ms. Eagle Deer, which contained an examination that had findings consistent with a rape and identified Mr. Janklow as the alleged assailant. Ms. Eagle Deer's former husband, Eric Sheldahl, also executed an affidavit in the context of her probate hearing in which he swore his former wife had been raped on January 13, 1967. At least one federal employee testified in the Tribal Court that a file relating to the alleged rape of Jancita Eagle Deer was removed from the premises of the Bureau of Indian Affairs without authorization and could not be subsequently located.

These documents are available in their entirety at http://www.jancitaeagledeer.com

I would be grateful for your review of this evidence, much of which became available subsequent to the Senate confirmation of William Janklow. It seems a slight-of-hand for Mr. Janklow to rely on the decision of Senators who were at minimum bereft of the alleged victim's testimony before that body. Her death on April 4, 1975 came a few months after she had testified in Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court that she was raped at gunpoint by William Janklow.

In a letter dated December 31, 2002, the Attorney General of Nebraska refused my request for an investigation into Ms. Eagle Deer's death, and has declined my invitation to review recently-executed affidavits due to the fact that "Senators Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale and Allen Cranston, none of whom have [sic] any reputation for whitewashing misdeeds of Republican officeholders" apparently approved Mr. Janklow for a vote before the full Senate. I am suggesting that you offer a statement that new evidence has been presented, and without forming an opinion as to the validity of the accusations, in light of the evidence, your prior vote concerning Mr. Janklow is not a justification for failing to proceed with criminal inquiries.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely yours,

David J. Harris