Emails show attempt to cover up Duffy scandal: RCMP documents
Emails show elaborate attempt to contain scandal
OTTAWA — New RCMP documents released Wednesday lay out in detail how the Prime Minister’s Office allegedly tried to manipulate a Senate audit report on Sen. Mike Duffy’s expense claims, including bringing high-ranking senators aboard to try to alter the course of a forensic investigation.
The police records, which include dozens of pages outlining emails between the main political players and their staff, were made public as the RCMP also alleged that Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, broke the law when he agreed to repay Duffy’s questionable housing expenses.
And while Wright is quoted in the RCMP documents as saying that the prime minister was not aware of his plan to cut a $90,000 cheque from his personal funds to assist Duffy — a point on which Harper is also adamant — other sections of the RCMP records suggest Harper had more knowledge of Duffy’s woes and the widening scandal than the prime minister has publicly spoken about. The documents also suggest Harper may have known at a key point in the affair that the party was willing to pick up the tab for Duffy’s housing expenses.
The RCMP allegations, unproven in court, are part of a process whereby investigators laid out allegations of fraud, bribery and breach of trust against both Duffy and Wright.
RCMP Cpl. Greg Horton writes that between Feb. 6 and March 28, 2103, Wright “did directly or indirectly corruptly give or offer to a member of Parliament for the benefit of that person, any money, valuable consideration, or office in respect of anything done or omitted, or to be done or omitted by him in his official capacity,” contrary to the Criminal Code.
Wright issued a statement through his lawyer Wednesday saying, “My intention was always to secure repayment of funds owed to taxpayers. I acted within the scope of my duties and remain confident that my actions were lawful.”
The development comes as a political bombshell for the Conservative government, which has been on its heels since the scandal broke in May. Harper, who came to office in 2006 promising to clean up politics, has faced daily attacks from the opposition over the affair, which has now only deepened with the spectre that his former chief of staff could one day face criminal charges.
The RCMP court document was filed as part of a request to gain access to emails between several high-profile Conservative senators embroiled in the expense repayment controversy: former government Senate leader Marjory LeBreton, and David Tkachuk and Carolyn Stewart Olsen, the two top Tories on the committee that oversaw Duffy’s audit.
The RCMP is also seeking more banking records for Duffy.