[RedHot25]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wrig...ents-1.2433427

Emails from the Prime Minister's Office, reviewed by Horton, also suggest Stephen Harper knew more than he has so far allowed.

"The PM knows, in broad terms only, that I personally assisted Duffy when I was getting him to agree to repay the expenses," Wright said in an email May 14, according to the Horton's affidavit.

Wright was responding to an email by Carl Vallée, a press secretary for Harper. Vallée and Andrew MacDougall, Harper's director of communications, were looking for information after getting questions by a reporter about the issue. The story of Wright's cheque to Duffy broke that night, and Harper has said repeatedly he only learned about it the next day, May 15.


But in a February email, Wright refers to Harper's "approval" related to earlier negotiations around covering Duffy's expenses.

In one email to PMO legal counsel Ben Perrin and other officials, Wright said, "I now have the go-ahead" on the repayment, "with a couple of stipulations."


Less than an hour later, Horton said, "Nigel Wright followed up with an email stating 'We are good to go from the PM once Ben [Perrin] has his confirmation from Payne.'"

Later in his affidavit, Horton says he has "seen no evidence that the prime minister was involved in having Senator Duffy's legal bills paid," but that Harper "may have been aware that the Conservative Fund would pay the cost of Senator Duffy's legal fees."


Horton notes that the details of what Wright discussed with Harper are not contained in the emails, but goes on to say "I am not aware of any evidence that the prime minister was involved in the repayment or reimbursement of money to Senator Duffy or his lawyer."