Court's November 5 directive.[5] This is supported by the plain language of his June 27, 2003 letter to the Department of Justice: "Had this production, the request for which was first initiated by letter to Peter Miller dated October 7, 2002, been provided in a more timely fashion, it would not have been necessary to retain the services of an ex-NAID employee and secure the documents used in the Interim Report from outside sources." Interior has never refuted this statement.

3. There Is No Evidence Supporting Interior's Allegations That While Assisting the Special Master, Mr. Smith's Interests Were Adverse to the Agency.
Interior maintains that, while in the Special Master's employ, Mr. Smith was a "complaining party or witness," Motion to Disqualify at 2, a "principal NAID witness," id., ananalysis. Nothing more.
Interior's argument that the Special Master's assistant Edward Volz drafted the Interim Report is even more unavailing. Mr. Volz's time entries reveal he did little more than assist Mr. Smith and the Master in analyzing documents necessary to completing the Interim Report.
In sum, the Court finds that it was well within the ambit of the Special Master's authority to communicate with Mr. Smith on an ex parte basis and to retain his services to assist with the Eighth Quarterly Report Investigation. The Court further finds no evidence supporting Interior's position that, at the time he was retained by the Special Master, Mr. Smith's interests were adverse to the agency; that Mr. Smith drafted any portion of the Interim Report; or that NAID's retaliation claim hinged on