Private emails exposed.
RCMP papers follow trail of 2,600 emails
OTTAWA — It reads like a gripping detective story — only it’s not fiction.
The 81-page document released by the RCMP Wednesday in the Senate expense scandal contains page after page of fascinating material which, for the first time, appears to reveal how the Nigel Wright-Mike Duffy scheme to repay Duffy’s expenses — first thought to be $32,000, then later revealed to be $90,000 — unfolded.
And much of the details can be found in the onceprivate emails written by the central cast of characters — some from the prime minister’s office, others from the Senate.
Among the highlights in the paper trail of 2,600 emails:
On Feb. 6, as the Tories struggled to contain the growing scandal surrounding Duffy’s housing expenses, Wright emailed Chris Woodcock, then the director of issues management in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office.
“Let this small group be under no illusion,” Wright warned. “I think that this is going to end badly.”
On Feb. 11, Patrick Rogers, the PMO’s manager of parliamentary affairs, wrote to Wright.
“I met with Duff today. He will repay, with a couple of conditions, including that admitting to a primary residence in Ottawa does not disqualify him from representing PEI in the Senate.”
It became a major sticking point, as Duffy was worried his status as a Prince Edward Island senator could be imperilled if he admitted he actually lived in Ottawa.
On Feb. 15, emails flew within the PMO about this issue and Wright wrote Benjamin Perrin, who was legal counsel to the prime minister.
Convincing the Senate to agree that Duffy’s residency status was fine, he wrote, was “all that stands in the way of Sen. Duffy paying back his $32,000 and closing out his situation.”
Wright added: “We … have to do this in a way that does not lead to the Chinese water torture of new facts in the public domain, that the PM does not want.”
On Feb. 20, Wright wrote to Woodcock with suggested “media lines” for Duffy when he repaid the money.
“We should suggest to Mike that he would acknowledge an error and put it down to ambiguities in the rules and forms. Never mention ‘wrongdoing’ to Mike. I also believe that Mike was doing what people told him he should do, without thinking about it too much.”
On Feb. 21, Duffy’s lawyer, Janice Payne, wrote to Perrin listing five demands, including “an arrangement to keep him whole on the repayment” and also to have his legal fees reimbursed.
In an email to Perrin and others in the PMO, Wright said the “party is open to keeping Sen. Duffy whole since it is clear that any overpayments were innocently received.”
Wright was in discussion with Sen. Irving Gerstein, who controls the party’s funds and had indicated he might use that money to pay the $32,000 for Duffy. (Later that month, the party backed down once it became clear Duffy’s total expenses were actually $90,000.) ❚ On Feb. 22, Wright emailed Perrin and others, saying “I now have the go-ahead,” but he wanted to be sure Duffy didn’t “inform” anyone about the arrangement.
He told Perrin “I do want to speak to the PM before everything is considered final.”
Less than an hour later, he wrote back: “We are good to go from the PM.” ❚ On Feb. 26, upon being told by PMO staffer David van Hemmen that Duffy’s housing expenses were much higher (then estimated at $80,000), Wright responded: “I am beyond furious. This will all be repaid.”
The same day, Wright replied to an email from Duffy, who was worried about an RCMP investigation.
“I can’t figure out why the RCMP would have anything to do with this,” responded Wright, “unless there is clear fraud, which I have never heard.” ❚ On March 8, after weeks during which Duffy said he couldn’t pay himself and the party backed out from helping, Wright emailed Woodcock, the issues-management director.
“For you only: I am personally covering Duffy’s $90K …”