More Insights from the Mike Duffy Trial – Michael Mulligan on CFAX

Victoria Lawyer Michael Mulligan on CFAX 1070 – Legally Speaking with Pamela McCall – discussing the latest evidence from the Mike Duffy trial. The evidence from the trial has contradicted the political messages from Stephen Harper who has taken to repeating a claim that only two people were responsible for the attempted coverup of the improper expenses claimed by Senator Duffy.

At the trial Conservative Director of Issues Management, Chris Woodcock, claimed that he did not read all of a six line email in which is was told by his boss,  Nigel Wright, that he was personally covering Duffy’s $90,000 in improper expenses. Despite this claim, Mr. Woodcock replied to the email, six minutes after it was sent, with a suggested media line to protect the Conservative Party.

In total, the most senior members of the Prime Ministers Office exchanged hundreds of pages of email messages, discussing how to end and cover up the Mike Duffy scandal as they considered it to be so damaging to the Conservative Party brand.

Senator Duffy had become, to the Conservative Party, what Jared Fogle become to Subway following his arrest for child pornography.

The most serious political damage caused by this affair has not been the result of criticism for having appointed several senators who are accused of making improper expense claims. The real damage has flowed from the evidence that has emerged with respect to the deceit and attempts to cover up the scandal. Nobody in the Prime Minister’s Office proposed, at the time, to simply tell the truth about what had occurred.

Michael Mulligan on Legally Speaking – Live on CFAX 1070 Thursdays at 11:00am.