Duffy In the Dirt Again

Did beleaguered senator Mike Duffy set up a pal on the Senate gravy train?  It's alleged that Gerald Donohue, a friend of Duffy's from his days at CTV and CBC. was given consulting contracts totalling $65,000 for doing basically nothing.

In the affidavit pertaining to Duffy, Cpl. Greg Horton says he believes Duffy "hired a friend as a consultant over an approximate four year period, and paid him a total of approximately $65,000 during that time, for little or no apparent work."

Horton said in the affidavit that the friend, Gerald Donohue, was interviewed by investigators "and acknowledged that he produced no tangible work product for Duffy."

Donohue, a former technician who worked for CTV and CBC, told investigators that he did internet research and provided verbal advice to Duffy, Horton wrote.

The RCMP needs the banking records to prove where the money went, Horton wrote, because Donohue says he never saw any of it, and that it went to his business. The money was paid by cheque, the court documents state.

"The supporting documentation relating to the bank transactions will assist investigators in identifying where the money went after it was deposited, and who received the money if Donohue did not," Horton wrote.

The RCMP affidavit doesn't come right out and say it but does raise the question of whether Donohue or his company actually saw any of the money for services not actually provided.  The cops want access to the senator's personal bank records.