Mike Duffy all 31 counts dismissed: Now "The Harper Affair"

Nigel Wright related charges. 29, 30, 31. Judge says PMO was not a benign bureaucracy. 

This group wields significant power in the halls of power. All witnesses from PMO executed their mandates with 'ruthless efficiency'. If there was a problem the mantra was 'get it done,' judge says, and achieve a successful outcome to a problem.

Judge says the emails show a political and covert operation that is both mind boggling and shocking

Was Sen. Duffy just another piece on Nigel Wright's chess board, judge asks.

Vaillancourt notes the PMO officials who testified before the court impressed him with their “ruthless efficiency.” 

After reviewing all emails, Vaillancourt, the next heading is “through the looking glass”: the email he perused as part of this trial made him stop and wonder if he had really gotten an inner glimpse at the inner workings of government.

Did Wright *really* direct a senior member of the Senate to approach someone at an independent audit firm to influence the outcome of an audit?

So many questions, he has — and the answer to all of them are “yes”

“Mind-boggling and shocking.”

So, basically. Duffy cleared of virtually everything (there are three left), and PMO indicted, metaphorically, on grounds of being scheming, manipulative monsters, at least as far as this judge is concerned.

Not that PMO is on trial, or even still in PMO.

And there it is again: Vaillancourt wondering why, if the Crown were so critical of Duffy’s version of events, they failed to ask a single question during cross-examination?

PMO was determined to make the Duffy problem go away, Vaillancourt concludes — they believed they had a “major problem”: and that problem’s name, he says, was Senator Duffy, who resisted the “repay” scenario, and was “kicking and screaming throughout.”

Duffy, Vaillancourt says, wanted to try his luck with Deloitte, and maintained that he was in the right.

At no point, Vaillancourt muses, did anyone ever tell Duffy to do “the legal thing,” it was always “the right thing,” which was what was right for PMO.


Comment:

What spin will Rona Ambrose and the Conservative Party of Canada come up with?

No Rona! You did not try to do the right thing.... you tried to politicize the wrong thing and claim it as doing what is right for Canadians.

What was right for Canadians was to admit there was a problem with the Senate rules on expenses and not to vilify three of your own Senators, Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau for misappropriating funds.

The right thing was to correct the problem in the Senate and not cost Canadians more by going to trial on trumped up charges.

The Prime Minister was wrong, the Prime Minister was responsible THAT is why they call it the Prime Ministers Office and not the Criminal Consulting Office of the CPC.

Stephen Harper, Nigel Wright and those in the PMO who were aware of these acts to deceive Canadians are the guilty party whether or not they were tried in a court of law. If you or the CPC attempt to besmirch the judges findings you will only have lowered yourself and your party into Stephen Harpers sewer.

What does this mean for Canadians? Duffy will walk right into the Senate and declare himself and independent Senator then spend the next few years trying to clean up his image, at our expense. All charges against Brazeau will quietly disappear and the RCMP investigation into Wallin will likely end.... what a waste when a party pulls a Nixon and tries to deceive the people

Tonda MacCharles @TondaMacC 5m5 minutes ago
Judge: according to Bayne, Harper, an authoritative figure, gave Duffy "explicit advice" on notion of his residence, not contradicted.

Hannah Thibedeau @HannahThibedeau 4m4 minutes ago
Judge says @stephenharper advised ‪#‎Duffy‬ PEI is now your primary residence. Justice "this was NOT a minor bureaucratic official ‪#‎cdnpoli‬

Bruce Anderson @bruceanderson 1m1 minute ago
whatever else to think about #duffy verdict, go