EXTORTION ALLEGATION

Woman was asked for ‘intimate’ info on ex-minister

Clement sexting scandal

OTTAWA • Admitting to serial infidelity and other “inappropriate” online exchanges, former cabinet minister Tony Clement revealed Thursday he contacted police last summer after someone offered to pay a woman to hand over his “intimate and personal information,” further fuelling a scandal that has raised questions about both national security and the ethics of sexting. On Tuesday evening Clement confessed he had shared sexually explicit photos and a video with an account he believed belonged to a consenting woman, but which in fact belonged to a “foreign actor” who then demanded money. He had contacted the RCMP immediately, he said. He resigned that evening from his critic and committee roles within the Conservative caucus. Global News reported that night the person had demanded Clement pay them 50,000 euros. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer initially said he “took Tony at his word” that it had been an isolated incident, but as allegations swirled about Clement’s online behaviour he later asked Clement, the 57-year-old MP for the Ontario riding of Parry SoundMuskoka, to resign from caucus. On Thursday the MP posted an open letter to his constituents on his website. “During a period of personal difficulty and weakness I engaged in inappropriate exchanges that crossed lines that should never have been crossed. These exchanges led to acts of infidelity,” Clement wrote. He also revealed a previous attempt to obtain material that would compromise him.