XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: man.politics, sk.politics, ont.politics   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 24/11/2013 2:36 PM, ConɀRConɀ wrote:   
   >> In ab.politics Con?RCon?  wrote:   
   >> : . . . . If Harper was behind the order to alter - or stop - a formal   
   >> : audit by Deloitte ?   
   >> : _______________________________________   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> : By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press - November 24, 2013   
   >>   
   >> : Harper approved plan to compel Duffy to repay expenses: PMO   
   >>   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> : OTTAWA - What exactly went down on Feb. 22, 2013, when the prime   
   >> : minister's chief of staff approached him about how to deal with the   
   >> Mike   
   >> : Duffy Senate expenses headache?   
   >>   
   >> : Two clear but very different versions of events have emerged:   
   >>   
   >> : A) Nigel Wright meets with Harper and conceals the details of an   
   >> : agreement with Duffy, but then tells other staff in the Prime   
   >> Minister's   
   >> : Office that the PM has approved the deal.   
   >>   
   >> : B) Harper was informed of and approved a deal, or parts of a deal, that   
   >> : could turn out to be criminal.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> : Duffy and Wright face police allegations of bribery, breach of trust   
   >> and   
   >> : fraud in connection with the fateful agreement. No charges have yet   
   >> been   
   >> : laid.   
   >>   
   >> : Stephen Harper's spokesman Jason MacDonald spoke to a variety of media   
   >> : outlets on Sunday to lay out in detail Harper's account, in the wake of   
   >> : a release of an RCMP affidavit on the affair. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   >>   
   >> : MacDonald said when Wright and Harper met that day, Wright sought   
   >> : approval to "compel" a stubborn Duffy to repay his contested housing   
   >> : expenses ? at that time estimated at only $32,000.   
   >>   
   >> : "You have a caucus member who is actively resisting paying, doesn't   
   >> : believe he did anything wrong, doesn't believe he should repay it,"   
   >> : MacDonald told The Canadian Press.   
   >>   
   >> : "So Nigel goes back to the prime minister and says, 'We're going to go   
   >> : back to him again and tell him he has to repay it, and he's not   
   >> going to   
   >> : like that, he's going to resist it and he's going to fight it,' and we   
   >> : all know that even to this day he still doesn't believe he did anything   
   >> : wrong or should have had to repay, and hasn't."   
   >>   
   >> : When asked how Wright proposed to "compel" Duffy to repay, whether   
   >> there   
   >> : was some sort of ultimatum attached, MacDonald said it was just telling   
   >> : Duffy to repay. The opposition have ridiculed the suggestion that   
   >> : Harper's permission was sought simply to have Duffy repay his own   
   >> expenses.   
   >>   
   >> : Wright's version, revealed in emails and interviews obtained by the   
   >> RCMP   
   >> : in their ongoing investigation, suggests Wright went to Harper with a   
   >> : different, much more elaborate scenario that included covering Duffy's   
   >> : expenses.   
   >>   
   >> : At the time, discussions were underway between the PMO and Duffy's   
   >> : lawyer Janice Payne that would see the embattled senator repay his   
   >> : expenses and say so publicly, even though he felt he had nothing wrong.   
   >> : In exchange, the party would repay him for the outlay, Duffy would be   
   >> : spared any further questions about whether Ottawa or PEI was his   
   >> primary   
   >> : residence, and he would be withdrawn from a Senate-commissioned audit.   
   >>   
   >> : At the time, Duffy was being scrutinized for claiming housing expenses   
   >> : for a secondary residence in Ottawa, even though that was where he   
   >> : mainly lived.   
   >>   
   >> : Wright wrote to PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin and other staffers on   
   >> Feb. 22   
   >> : about the deal.   
   >>   
   >> : "Ben, please go back to Ms. Payne on these points and ascertain where   
   >> : they stand on everything else. I do want to speak to the PM before   
   >> : everything is considered," Wright wrote to the PMO lawyer and other   
   >> : staffers on Feb. 22, messaging back an hour later: "We are good to go   
   >> : from the PM..."   
   >>   
   >> : Ultimately, when Duffy's expense bill reached $90,000, an apparently   
   >> : exasperated Wright decided to cover the cost himself ? something at   
   >> : least six other Conservatives were told about. Harper has insisted he   
   >> : was not in the loop about that either.   
   >>   
   >> : When the story broke in the media in May, Wright wrote to another PMO   
   >> : staffer telling him, "The PM knows, in broad terms only, that I   
   >> : personally assisted Duffy when I was getting him to agree to pay the   
   >> : expenses."   
   >>   
   >> : Three of the other major figures in the deal with Duffy ? Sen. Irving   
   >> : Gerstein, former PMO director of issues management Chris Woodcock, and   
   >> : parliamentary affairs manager Patrick Rogers remain employed by either   
   >> : the party or the government.   
   >>   
   >> : MacDonald repeated Harper's argument that Wright bears sole   
   >> responsibility.   
   >>   
   >> : But Gerstein, chairman of the Conservative Fund Canada, was not   
   >> Wright's   
   >> : subordinate. In fact, Wright sought Gerstein's approval to use party   
   >> : funds to repay Duffy.   
   >>   
   >> : The 80-page RCMP court file showed that Gerstein approached a   
   >> contact he   
   >> : knew at the firm Deloitte to ask about the audit they were doing on   
   >> : Duffy's expenses for the Senate.   
   >>   
   >> : They wanted the examination of Duffy's residency to be declared moot as   
   >> : soon as he repaid his expenses, which was part of Duffy's demands.   
   >>   
   >> : Following that Gerstein contact, emails between figures inside the PMO   
   >> : suggest that some sort of information was communicated to them about   
   >> the   
   >> : audit. The Senate committee that first commissioned the audit has   
   >> : summoned Deloitte to answer questions about this on Thursday.   
   >>   
   >> : Harper was also unaware this was going on, MacDonald said.   
   >>   
   >> : "One, he was not aware that Mr. Gerstein was reaching out to   
   >> Deloitte or   
   >> : had been asked to reach out to Deloitte, and again had he known about   
   >> : that he would have put a stop to it," he said.   
   >>   
   >> : MacDonald and Harper have emphasized that only Wright and Duffy face   
   >> : allegations of criminal wrongdoing. But did they breach any moral or   
   >> : ethical standards by playing along with the Duffy scheme?   
   >>   
   >> : "Ultimately, Mr. Wright has taken responsibility for this. Yes, he has   
   >> : identified people that he informed of what he was doing, or involved in   
   >> : some way, but ultimately these folks are not being investigated by the   
   >> : RCMP," said MacDonald.   
   >>   
   >> : Wright's lawyer did not immediately respond to an email asking for   
   >> : reaction to MacDonald's comments, but Wright issued a statement last   
   >> : week saying he acted within the scope of his duties and is confident   
   >> his   
      
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