Senator Mike Duffy's lawyer, Don Bayne, has reportedly handed over hundreds of pages of documents to RCMP investigators thought to be relevant to the Wright-Duffy-Harper affair. The RCMP asked, they got.
It's said that Duffy may have up to 800-pages of e-mails, correspondence and other records pertaining to the under-the-table PMO cash deal. Duffy's lawyer - and others who have read them - claim they directly implicate Stephen Harper in the backroom wheeling and dealing. As one of those who read them put it, some of the documents have "Stephen Harper's fingerprints all over them."
Some of those who have known Duffy going back to the very early 70s wonder why he remained mute all summer. They think that, even at that stage, Duffy wanted to protect his prime minister. It seems Nigel Wright has also been unwilling to fight back against Stephen Harper but it's believed that Wright draws the line at lying for the prime minister or facing possible jail time for him.
At this point, no one seems to trust anyone else. There's something of a standoff underway among the principals. Harper's denunciations of Wright and Duffy recently may have been a calculated but nonetheless bad gamble.
Oh, don't worry about Duffy's docs mysteriously going missing. I'm sure the cops weren't handed the originals and, besides, there are copies being held in safe keeping.
Stephen Harper's "rush to flush" Wallin, Brazeau and Duffy down the Senate dumper was as obvious as it was odious. TorStar's Thomas Walkin writes that the suspensions were Harper's desperate hope to make it all go away even as the flames of scandal begin to lick at the prime minister's feet. That wont work.
9 comments:
You have to wonder - if Harper is actually implicated in the emails (and if Duffy's story is true that would mean that Harper is guilty at least of Extortion and Bribery), would the RCMP actually indict a sitting PM? After all, there was clear evidence that Harper was directly involved in bribing Cadman but they never went after him.
What I'm hearing, Kirby, is that RCMP Commish, Bob Paulson, is under enormous pressure. He gagged his senior officers months ago, forbidding them contact with MPs or Senators without his express approval. My guess is that this will be handled between Paulson's and Harper's offices. We'll know soon enough.
Well, technically they didn't actually bribe Cadman. They just attempted to--he didn't accept it. If cops don't want to investigate, they can breathe pretty easy normally: Either bribery failed and therefore didn't happen, or it succeeded and nobody will squeal. This is one of those few cases where the corruption happened but then somebody talked, with documentation yet. So the question for Paulson is, just how loyal does he want to be to a guy who looks un-re-electable and who wouldn't hesitate to dump him in a second if their positions were reversed? He might want to start thinking about how Trudeau or Mulcair will be looking at him when they get into office . . .
Indeed, Purple Library Guy, but attempted bribery is also a crime.
Yes, you're right Kirby. Attempt or conspiracy to attempt are offences under our Criminal Code.
Wright's reaction is going to be critical.
Just a bunch of retards running this country. Retards...? not exactly...just a bunch of mostly men willing to apply Machiavellianism which according to the Oxford English Dictionary is, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct",...deriving from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe (The Prince), among other works. The word has a similar use in modern psychology where it describes one of the dark triad personalities, characterised by a duplicitous interpersonal style associated with cynical beliefs and pragmatic morality.[1] "Machiavellian" as a word became very popular in the late 16th century in English, though "Machiavellianism" itself is first cited by the Oxford English Dictionary from 1626. On second thought, are Canadian politicians smart enough to read this or are they just down and out crooked.
@ Owen
Well at least you've demonstrated an uncommon ability to look up Machiavelli on Wiki. Kudos, I suppose.
If you knew Machiavelli you would realize how furious he would be to be compared to a guy like Harper. Harper is merely a clumsy thug.
@ Owen. At the end of the day it might come down to Wright. I think there are a few moves yet to play out. Unfortunately a good many of those will be done in house, away from our prying eyes.
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