PMO failed to protect Harper, analyst says

OTTAWA — The main unanswered question in the Mike Duffy affair is this: Why would Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office and the Conservative party tie themselves in such knots over $90,000 in expenses for one lone senator?

The court documents made public week, outlining sweeping allegations and details about the machinations of the Prime Minister’s Office in the Duffy affair, offer only hints, such as: Duffy didn’t have the money and then-chief of staff Nigel Wright felt bad for him; Harper had said the money needed to be repaid, period; Duffy was refusing to give money back and becoming a political problem that had to go away; Duffy had been good to the party and needed to be treated well in return.

What started out as a containable problem then spiralled out of control. But in thinking they were protecting the party’s reputation or Harper from embarrassment, the staff involved in the whole affair appeared to be doing more to protect Duffy than Harper.

“There’s a certain degree of inexperience, but they were in awe of Mike Duffy’s reputation, his position, his career profile, the party fundraising,” said Keith Beardsley, who once served as Harper’s deputy chief of staff. “They got wrapped up in protecting Mike Duffy rather than the prime minster.”