Mike Duffy trial begins Tuesday in Ottawa

214 posts / 0 new

Sun, 2015-04-05 03:11

Debater

Did senator cheat on expenses, and did PMO pay him off to buy silence?

Excerpt:

---

The charges require the Crown to prove he intended to deceive, intended to gain personal benefit. His experienced defence lawyer, Don Bayne, will drill holes in those arguments by pointing to Senate rules as unclear and to a government desperate to avoid embarrassment — doubts that Bayne hopes will lead to an acquittal.

Judge Charles Vaillancourt will have to wade through a massive paper trail to parse arcane Senate rules, receipts and documents as he weighs Duffy’s explanations that his expenses were legitimate or merely filed in error.

That’s the eye-glazing stuff of any fraud trial. And this one is going to be huge: it’s scheduled to run 41 days, starting Tuesday.

Yet you can expect moments of high drama.

Top Conservative Senate, PMO and party officials and former chief of staff Nigel Wright will be called to testify about the inner workings of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office and its efforts to manage a growing Senate expense scandal in the winter of 2013.

---

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/04/03/mike-duffy-trial-begins-tu...

Tue, 2015-04-07 08:03

Debater

Mike Duffy Senate expenses trial puts spotlight on his side of story

Conservative-appointed senator's trial could illuminate inner workings of PMO through testimony, emails

Apr 07, 2015

The trial of suspended Senator Mike Duffy is expected to include a rare opening statement by his lawyer, the first narrative to a defence that has so far revealed little about its approach.

The former broadcaster will be in an Ottawa court this morning to face 30 charges of fraud and breach of trust, and one count of bribery. The maximum penalty for fraud or breach of trust by a public official is five years in prison.

. . .

Joseph Neuberger, a Toronto-based criminal lawyer, said Bayne has been careful about not trying the case in the media. He said that's generally what good lawyers do.

At the same time, Neuberger said it's clear Bayne and Duffy will want to deflect attention from the expense allegations by raising questions about the Prime Minister's Office.

"We don't really know what are the factual underpinnings of the attack that the defence is going to level at the Prime Minister's Office, but it's certainly intriguing," Neuberger said in an interview with CBC News.

---

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-senate-expenses-trial-puts-sp...

Tue, 2015-04-07 08:20

Debater

Line outside the Ottawa Courthouse this morning for the Duffy Trial:

Tue, 2015-04-07 09:08

Debater

Tue, 2015-04-07 09:09

Debater

Panoramic view outside Courthouse:

Tue, 2015-04-07 09:55

Debater

Key witness in Duffy trial expected to admit to acting as middleman for payments

One of the key witnesses at Mike Duffy’s trial is expected to testify this week that he was paid about $20,000 to act as a middleman and disburse money to the now-suspended senator’s personal trainer, makeup artist and others, CTV News has learned.

In previously released court documents, RCMP investigators have alleged that Duffy paid his friend Gerald Donohue $65,000 under a Senate-funded contract to carry out work that was “of little or no value.”

Donohue, a former TV executive who is not facing any charges, will take the stand this week as a Crown witness. He will be questioned about $65,000 worth of Senate contracts for consulting work that investigators allege he never performed. Of particular concern to the prosecutors is what Donohue knows about $25,000 that is still unaccounted for.

Early in the investigation, Donohue told the RCMP that he didn’t receive any money and admitted that he produced “no tangible work product for Duffy.”

But sources tell CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fifethat Donohue’s story has now changed. When he takes the stand, he is expected to admit that he was paid about $20,000 to act as a middleman and facilitate payments to others.

---

http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/key-witness-in-duffy-trial-expected-to-ad...

Tue, 2015-04-07 10:12

Debater

Duffy arrives at the Courthouse!

Tue, 2015-04-07 15:50

Debater

Bayne says there will be emails produced by the defence that will show what happened "behind the political facade" on $90,000 cheque #Duffy

https://twitter.com/CTVMercedes/status/585528898823282688

Tue, 2015-04-07 15:51

Debater

Bayne just lifted up two four-inch thick binders he says are e-mail narrative of #Duffy - Wright cheque affair.

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/585528878220898305

Tue, 2015-04-07 15:53

#10

Debater

Crown Contradicts Harper's View About Senator's Eligibility

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/04/07/crown-contradicts-harper_n_70193...

Tue, 2015-04-07 15:55

#11

Debater

Not good for #CPC. Bayne just told court "standard pre-budget consultation" is to dispatch senators to BC for yacht club lunches. #duffy

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/585521309779628035

Tue, 2015-04-07 15:56

#12

Debater

Duffy's lawyer says the trial will see "graphic evidence" of Prime Minister's knowledge of and request for Senator Duffy's travel.

https://twitter.com/CTVMercedes/status/585521586377195520

Tue, 2015-04-07 16:02

#13

Debater

Bayne says it was typical for CPC to send senator #duffy to a BC yacht club for prebudget consultation. #cdnpoli

https://twitter.com/evansolomoncbc/status/585522063840047105

Tue, 2015-04-07 16:12

#14

Debater

Duffy's lawyer: email evidence will show Wright's cheque not a bribe, but culmination of conspiratorial strategy of Wright, PMO & 3 senators

https://twitter.com/CTVMercedes/status/585529842210340865

Tue, 2015-04-07 16:13

#15

Debater

E-mail from PMO describes #Duffy scandal as “our public agony” and “our public bleeding” Bayne tells judge.

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/585529606494621698

Tue, 2015-04-07 17:05

#16

Debater

Duffy trial bombshell: Bayne says Nigel Wright told Harper caucus member was being forced to repay money he probably didn't owe. #DuffyIP

https://twitter.com/LeslieMacKinnon/status/585532721339969539

Tue, 2015-04-07 17:06

#17

Debater

Duffy's lawyer says suspended Senator will take the stand to testify at some point in trial. #cdnpoli #Duffy #SenCA

https://twitter.com/RobertFife/status/585537568357351424

Tue, 2015-04-07 17:30

#18

Brachina

f https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=WUskVbbXA4uMyASe3oH4A...

Tue, 2015-04-07 17:35

#19

sherpa-finn

All that news coverage, Debater - and you couldn't track down a photo of the best political stunt of the day: NDP staff outside the courthouse this morning handing out boxed Senate breakfasts of ice-cold camembert and broken crackers? I am told the Liberals in the crowd sniffed with disdain....

Tue, 2015-04-07 17:43

#20

oldgoat

How has Power and Politics managed to make this thing so incredibly boring. I think Evan Soloman has has a few too many Red Bulls.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:05

#21

NorthReport

Harper is going to emerge as a hero for getting rid of the crud in the Senate.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:07

#22

Debater

NorthReport wrote:

Harper is going to emerge as a hero for getting rid of the crud in the Senate.

Thanks for weighing in with the Conservative perspective.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:10

#23

Debater

"Every Tory in town is putting their back to the wall at this time. They're nervous." -@Jean_Lapierre on the #Duffy trial. #CJADLIVE

https://twitter.com/CJAD800/status/585558817905242112

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:18

#24

NorthReport

Poor Liberals - Trudeau is such a weak leader that the Liberals are basing all their election hopes on Harper being implicated in this trial.

Unfortuantely for the Liberals it's just not going to happen, and Canadians could care less about the Senate anyways.

Too bad Canadian politics is in the gutter with this gotcha politics.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:19

#25

Sean in Ottawa

oldgoat wrote:

How has Power and Politics managed to make this thing so incredibly boring. I think Evan Soloman has has a few too many Red Bulls.

Sorry I can't resist -- when I see the word "Red Bull" I think of Liberal promises. ;-)

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:22

#26

NorthReport

Try watching Power Play with Don Martin. It seems to be more balanced or neutral coverage of most political events.

oldgoat wrote:

How has Power and Politics managed to make this thing so incredibly boring. I think Evan Soloman has has a few too many Red Bulls.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:29

#27

NorthReport

Did you read about this giant conspiracy? It's absolutely shocking and will propel the Liberals into majority government.

Crown contradicts Harper: Duffy ‘probably ineligible’ to be senator for P.E.I.

http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/04/07/crown-contradicts-harper-duf...

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:38

#28

NorthReport

CTV analyst: At the end of Day One there is no smoking gun and the Crown is on solid ground with at least some of the charges.

Tue, 2015-04-07 18:41

#29

Debater

NorthReport wrote:

Poor Liberals - Trudeau is such a weak leader that the Liberals are basing all their election hopes on Harper being implicated in this trial.

Unfortuantely for the Liberals it's just not going to happen, and Canadians could care less about the Senate anyways.

Too bad Canadian politics is in the gutter with this gotcha politics.

Doesn't this sound like something CPC HQ would say?

Tue, 2015-04-07 19:15

#30

NorthReport

Debater try and stick to the topic and leave your constant sleazy Liberal inuendo in the trash where it belongs.

Mike Duffy's expenses questioned by Senate from the start

Exhibits filed in court suggest Senate finance officials raised concerns starting with 1st expense report

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-s-expenses-questioned-by-sena...

Tue, 2015-04-07 20:39

#31

NorthReport

Crown says Mike Duffy billed Senate for funeral, dog show

Follow the trial of suspended Sen. Mike Duffy, who faces 31 charges

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/04/06/live-coverage-of-mike-duff...

Tue, 2015-04-07 20:43

#32

NorthReport

Mike Duffy Trial: 'Common-sense' versus the Senate rulebook

Tue, 2015-04-07 20:44

#33

NorthReport

When does Liberal Senator Mac Harb's trial start?

Tue, 2015-04-07 21:22

#34

NorthReport

Thomas Mulcair, unofficial prosecution

Remember when that Wright-Duffy cheque took over question period? A look back at 2013′s premiere parliamentary soap opera

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair eschewed even a cursory preamble as question period commenced on May 28, 2013. Mulcair, the bearded New Democrat and opposition leader, faced Prime Minister Stephen Harper and posed a simple question: “On what date and at what time was the Prime Minister informed that Nigel Wright has made a payment to Conservative Senator Mike Duffy?”

Question period is known for its predictable ingredients: incessant repetition of “Mr. Speaker,” a verbal tic that ostensibly recognizes the chair of the House of Commons—but really only stitches together a few stanzas worth of talking-point rhetoric; preambles that add required vitriol to inquisitive opposition parliamentarians; leading and loaded questions—”How can he not . . .” and “Does he not think . . .”—that invite only outraged responses; and lots of yelling, waving of the arms, and whatever else might whip the place into a collective fury.

On that May 28, when Mulcair took his seat across from Harper, he forgot all about that predictability. Wherever Mulcair’s career leads, whether he wins big or loses badly, no matter the victory or disgrace to come, history might remember him best as the first prosecutor, even if only unofficially, to take on the allegedly entitled Mike Duffy.

http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/remember-when-that-wright-duffy-c...

Tue, 2015-04-07 21:50

#35

NorthReport

Maybe the Conservatives should be brought before that secret committee that has been accusing the NDP of misusing their offices, eh!

What we can learn, even now, from the Mike Duffy trial

There are two lessons we can learn from the trial of Senator Mike Duffy even before it gets very far.

First, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has happily used the Senate not for its constitutional purpose but rather to provide taxpayer-funded, partisan star power to his Conservative Party.

And second, behind the shield of a compliant parliamentary majority, Harper's taxpayer-funded Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has become as much a partisan agency of the Conservative Party as an office of the government of Canada.

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2015/04/what-we-can-learn...

Wed, 2015-04-08 00:32

#36

Debater

Mike Duffy drags PMO, Senate leadership into Courtroom 33

Tim Harper

http://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/5544837-mike-duffy-drags-pmo-sena...

Wed, 2015-04-08 01:14

#37

jerrym

I was wondering if the Duff was going to play rope-a-dope (doing the minimum to try and survive) or go on full attack mode. Today's answer is full attack mode as indicated by the defence taking the opportunity to lay out the basics of its case - something usually only done by the prosecutor at the beginning of the case.

I think both the Duff and his lawyer plan to provide a good media attack clip every day, thereby changing the focus to the PM form the Duff. With his media background the Duff (and it appears his lawyer) know exactly how to feed the media hounds just enough red meat to whet their appetite for more. This could be very damaging to the Cons over the 3 months the trial will take and certainly knock them off their own pre-election game plan.

Wed, 2015-04-08 01:20

#38

welder

I agree,Jerry...

I think The Harper Government* is going to be is back track tap dance mode for the next couple of months.They get a bit of a break when they present their Magical Mystery Budget,which will "balance" by selling all those GM shares,but after that...

They better hope Nigel Wright and the Ol' Duff don't sing...

Wed, 2015-04-08 01:25

#39

Debater

Good point, Jerry.

That's what this article is saying, too:

---

At the Mike Duffy trial, Stephen Harper will be the tie that binds

Stephen Harper doesn’t expect to testify at Mike Duffy’s trial, but he didn’t need to be in the courtroom. His name was dropped throughout the first day.

In one way or another, the PM was tagged as the beginning and the end of the Duffy debacle.

It started with Crown prosecutor Mark Holmes, who opined that Mr. Duffy was “probably ineligible” to sit as a senator from Prince Edward Island in the first place. He was constitutionally eligible to represent Ontario, because he lived in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

---

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/at-the-mike-duffy-trial-ste...

Wed, 2015-04-08 01:50

#40

Debater

Day 1 delivers ugly portraits of senator, Senate, PMO staffers

OTTAWA -- The trial of Mike Duffy got underway Tuesday with a series of ugly portraits: the senator himself, the prime minister's former right-hand man and the much-maligned upper chamber as a whole.

The Crown drew a picture of an allegedly corrupt senator who made personal trips on the public dime, paid acquaintances for questionable contracts and extorted the Prime Minister's Office to cover his fraudulent living expenses.

Defence lawyer Donald Bayne delivered an unflattering snapshot of the country's highest office, depicting an alleged conspiracy by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most senior staff to force a sitting senator to repay expenses he never believed were wrong in the first place.

---

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/mike-duffy-trial-day-1-delivers-ugly-portra...

Wed, 2015-04-08 01:57

#41

Debater

‘A fraud, a fiction and a lie': Mike Duffy’s lawyer labels Nigel Wright ringleader in PMO conspiracy

OTTAWA – Mike Duffy’s lawyer portrayed Nigel Wright as the ringleader of “cohorts and underlings” behind a “conspiratorial strategy” in the prime minister’s office to force the suspended senator to repay $90,000 in living expenses he didn’t really owe because it was politically damaging to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

As Duffy’s trial wrapped for the first day, defence lawyer Donald Bayne also alleged – reading from a police transcript heard in public for the first time – that Harper knew Wright believed Duffy had a legal and technical argument to claim the expenses, but ordered the repayment anyway.

“All of this was for purely political advantage to the government,” Bayne told the court, calling it a “fraud, a fiction and a lie.”

Wright ended up paying the expenses himself, and subsequently resigned or was fired from his job.

Bayne also alleged three top Conservative senators – David Tkachuk, Marjory LeBreton and Carolyn Stewart Olsen – were in on the conspiracy to force Duffy to repay what he believed were valid and legal expenses.

---

http://globalnews.ca/news/1926224/a-fraud-a-fiction-and-a-lie-mike-duffy...

Wed, 2015-04-08 06:55

#42

Debater

Can the Conservatives afford another Mike Duffy hit?

The government's popularity was mauled by the Duffy-Wright affair in 2013

By Éric Grenier

Apr 08, 2015

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can-the-conservatives-afford-another-mik...

Wed, 2015-04-08 14:11

#43

Brachina

i worry that the duffy trail is the distraction that Trudeau is hoping for, he doesn't want more Canadians to figure out Mulcair AAA steak to Trudeau's pink slime.

Wed, 2015-04-08 14:16

#44

NorthReport

Brachina
Give it a break

Wed, 2015-04-08 15:12

#45

Debater

Brachina, could we stay on the topic of the Duffy Trial please? Do you really have such a dislike of Justin Trudeau that you would rather Harper & the CPC continue to get away with their corruption, or would you prefer that LPC & NDP are given the chance this year of bringing the Cons down?

Even if you dislike LPC, this could help NDP, too.

Lots of Conservative dirt getting revealed in the exhibits in Court today!