Ongoing Senate scandal

[Bertuzzied]

I"m still waiting to see how Rob Anders plays into all of this. There has to be a reason why Harper keeps him around.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

"Battlestations!"

--Starship Rerun

Don't want to eat my words.... hehehe

[Bertuzzied]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle15522531/

When the media asked questions on the matter to the PMO in May, Mr. Wright told his colleagues in an e-mail: “The PM knows, in broad terms only, that I personally assisted
Duffy when I was getting him to agree to repay the expenses.”Mr. Harper has always argued that he was not informed – and would not have approved – of Mr. Wright’s decision to repay the expenses on Mr. Duffy’s behalf. Overall, the court records show that the PMO was involved in almost every element of the controversy, but do not show that Mr. Harper was kept informed of the minutia of the dealings.


After being told by Mr. Harper to repay the money, the RCMP officer said that Mr. Duffy made a series of demands: that he be withdrawn from an ongoing audit into his expenses, that he be reimbursed (including his legal fees) and that all members of the Conservative caucus speak on the matter based on “agreed upon media lines.”
The head of the Conservative Party fund, Senator Irving Gerstein, contemplated paying back the amount and the legal fees from party coffers when the cost was believed to be $32,000. However, when the amount rose to $90,000, Mr. Gerstein only agreed to pay back Mr. Duffy’s legal fees.

[Bill Bumface]

Having a good time in here Bertuzzied? Are your friends coming over soon?

[Ark2]

What's more annoying? Reading Bertuzzied post about Rob Anders or Chris Butler?

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Having a good time in here Bertuzzied? Are your friends coming over soon?

Party's just getting started!
Are you coming by after your Fiberal and Adscam Party ends?

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Ark2

What's more annoying? Reading Bertuzzied post about Rob Anders or Chris Butler?

How about seeing Rob Anders or Chris Butler in action? or inaction on Anders part since he is still muzzled.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Party's just getting started!
Are you coming by after your Fiberal and Adscam Party ends?

It's funny how these things go. I poke fun at you for posting 4 times in a row, and you automatically assume I'm defending the CPC.

I've never voted for the Liberal party in my life. So now I still get to make fun of your overzealous excitement??

[RedHot25]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/11...police-allege/

Wright says he called Conservative Sen. Irving Gerstein, chair of the Conservative Fund, on Feb. 22 to ask if the fund would repay what he thought was only $32,000 plus interest. Wright says Gerstein agreed to do so.

That was until Tkachuk calculated that Duffy actually owed $90,000. Wright says Gerstein refused to cover that amount, without explaining why.

The documents also say that former PMO lawyer Benjamin Perrin was involved in negotiating the terms between Duffy and Wright over the payment. Perrin has previously denied any involvement.

Wright says he told Gerstein and Chris Woodcock, then the PMO’s director of issues management, of his decision to repay Duffy’s expenses. Duffy says he did not tell Harper of his decision.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

It's funny how these things go. I poke fun at you for posting 4 times in a row, and you automatically assume I'm defending the CPC.

I've never voted for the Liberal party in my life. So now I still get to make fun of your overzealous excitement??

Never poke an overzealous Beartuzzi!!!!

Ummm everyone at the Fiberal party would have never voted for the Liberal Party in their lives, so am I right? or am I right? hehe

[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."

[RedHot25]

Ok, I'll stop after this, as there is apparently crickets on this...

Stephen Harper responds: in short, see, it shows I knew nothing, even if it seems like almost everyone around me did know, at least parts. Although oddly he is ultimately responsible for all of those people...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/step...ions-1.2433872

Almost seems a bit like the Rerun defence (I'm just kidding rerun, all in good fun).

[Daradon]

Yeah for me, the buck kinda stops with Harper. Even if he truly didn't know, you can say he should have.

It's the question of, is he guilty for knowing and being a part of it, or incompetent for not knowing and having control over his staff? It's bad either way.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

The question may be: if Harper "didn't know", was he willfully blind?

If everyone around him knew, and he was responsible for all those people, should he ought to have known?

Willful blindness isn't an excuse and still leave him culpable.

[Zulu29]

There is now no doubt in my mind he (Harper) had a general idea of what was going on but said do what you have to but I don't need the details. Nevermind Duffy, now that he's gonna be charged Wright is the guy who can do some serious damage to the conservatives. I'm sure he doesn't like them dragging his name through the mud either.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Yeah, the evidence is pretty damning. Rob Ford must be Harper's favourite person right now, because his lone saving grace is that no-one is paying attention.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

Yeah, the evidence is pretty damning. Rob Ford must be Harper's favourite person right now, because his lone saving grace is that no-one is paying attention.

I've been joking for the past few days that the reason Ford hasn't resigned is that Harper is paying him not to.

[Slava]

Here's a pretty good review of the scandal, and how we got to where we are.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Ha...437/story.html

[Tinordi]

Wow crickets

Harper's whole defence is seriously challenged yesterday.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

Wow crickets

Harper's whole defence is seriously challenged yesterday.

No one in here actually seriously thought Harper knew nothing about it. Even the hardcore CPC faithful.... except for Rerun. hahaha