Canada vs Duffy vs PMO

[ToadBrother]

At the outset I would have agreed with many of the pundits that said no way he is going to walk away from 31 charges and he may well not, but Bayne has been doing such a good job of wakamo on the crowns case I beginning to wonder. Of course there is a ways to go yet.

The Crown is doing what all prosecutors do, throwing enough charges at the court that some are bound to stick.

That being said, I think he'll get off some of the fraud charges, and I think the residency issue is touchy. But there are some fraud issues that are going to be tough to dodge, and the whole $90,000 cheque issue looms very large.

[On Guard for Thee]

The Crown is doing what all prosecutors do, throwing enough charges at the court that some are bound to stick.

That being said, I think he'll get off some of the fraud charges, and I think the residency issue is touchy. But there are some fraud issues that are going to be tough to dodge, and the whole $90,000 cheque issue looms very large.

Yes as Ive said on here before and Im sure Im far from the only one who wants to hear what Nigel has to say. Ad as I understand it Mayne has suggested he will put Duffy himself on the stand.

[LemonPureLeaf]

Duffy is responsible for his own actions. Has nothing to do with the PMO. I'm more concerned.ed with the liberals scandal.

[Bryan]

Well you said absolutely not to a whole bunch of thoughts. Not up to the rest of us to figure out which ones you are actually referring to.

I was responding to ToadBrother's comment. The question was if being a Harper appointment automatically made Duffy infallible. Only someone with cognitive impairment would get anything else from that.

[ToadBrother]

Duffy is responsible for his own actions. Has nothing to do with the PMO. I'm more concerned.ed with the liberals scandal.

But some of Duffy's actions directly relate to the PMO, and why should we discuss Liberal scandals in a thread on a suspended Conservative Senator on trial for corruption?

Oh, I get it, you only want scandals attached to a particular political party when that political party isn't the Conservatives.

[overthere]

I think the residency issue is touchy.

I think Duffy will walk on that, and with it a lot of the Crown case is out the window..

Didn't he and Wallin get something in writing from Senate officials suggesting that only ownership of property in your 'home' province was sufficient?

[jacee]

I think Duffy will walk on that, and with it a lot of the Crown case is out the window..

Didn't he and Wallin get something in writing from Senate officials suggesting that only ownership of property in your 'home' province was sufficient?

Sufficient ... to be appointed to the Senate for that province. That doesn't mean it's appropriate to claim expenses for a house in Ottawa that you've had for years, though.

And now this! ?

-update-mike-duffy-bills-taxpayers-for-legal-fees ?

Hahaha ... yes it's satire.

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[overthere]

Sufficient ... to be appointed to the Senate for that province. That doesn't mean it's appropriate to claim expenses for a house in Ottawa that you've had for years, though.

I would not assume that the court agrees with you interpretation of the documents.

I read somewhere that there are at least 12 sets of Senate-issued rules outlining what is permissible

[jacee]

I would not assume that the court agrees with you interpretation of the documents.

I read somewhere that there are at least 12 sets of Senate-issued rules outlining what is permissible

That's just what the media are reporting.

Harper insisted Duffy represent PEI.

Did he ok Duffy expensing his Ottawa house and then change his mind?

[On Guard for Thee]

That's just what the media are reporting.

Harper insisted Duffy represent PEI.

Did he ok Duffy expensing his Ottawa house and then change his mind?

It appears from what I hear today that the trial days will be increased from the original 41 planned. Day 7 and only 2 witnesses examined. I wonder how many days they had planned for Wright, and Duffy himself.

[overthere]

That's just what the media are reporting.

Harper insisted Duffy represent PEI.

Did he ok Duffy expensing his Ottawa house and then change his mind?

Just what the media are reporting...... Do you think they are part of the vast conspiracy involving the RCMP, Crown prosecutors, Harper and all the media to invent the Senate spending guidelines so as to get Duffy off?

Actually PEI has been guaranteed four Senators since 1864. Harper engineered that too.

You must have a pretty wild imagination to think that Harper approves anybodys expense claims.

[PIK]

Jacee show us where harper forced him to say PEI, I thought it was duffys choice.

[jacee]

Jacee show us where harper forced him to say PEI, I thought it was duffys choice.

I think not, but google it yourself and see.

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[jacee]

Just what the media are reporting...... Do you think they are part of the vast conspiracy involving the RCMP, Crown prosecutors, Harper and all the media to invent the Senate spending guidelines so as to get Duffy off?

Actually PEI has been guaranteed four Senators since 1864. Harper engineered that too.

You must have a pretty wild imagination to think that Harper approves anybodys expense claims.

It remains to be seen what evidence is produced but ...

http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/canada/story/1.3022241

Dec. 4, 2012: Duffy says he got an email from Nigel Wright, the prime minister's chief of staff, saying it appeared that Duffy's residence expenses complied with the rules.

You think Harper didn't know?

The prime minister agreed I had not broken the rules but insisted I pay the money back, money I didn't owe, because the Senate's rules are, in his words,

'inexplicable to our base,'"

Interesting that Wallin ' s housing expenses in Ottawa were considered acceptable.

It comes down to Duffy was screwed because he already had a house there and claimed it instead of a hotel/apt.

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Edited April 17, 2015 by jacee

[PIK]

Duffy may well beat some charges due to vagueness, but IMO donahue is going to bring him down. And I know him and he would throw his mother under the bus.

Edited April 17, 2015 by PIK

[ToadBrother]

Duffy may well beat some charges due to vagueness, but IMO donahue is going to bring him down. And I know him and he would throw his mother under the bus.

As the UK's Parliamentary expense scandal showed, poorly written expense rules do not represent an unbreakable barrier against prosecution. Yes, the rules were byzantine and complex, and some may be so bad that Duffy will get off, but if the Crown's claims are fundamentally true, Duffy sought from the very beginning of his appointment (and even before!) to enrich himself.

[On Guard for Thee]

Jacee show us where harper forced him to say PEI, I thought it was duffys choice.

Testimony from the trial indicates Duffy was concerned about being appointed as being from PEI (even though he very much wanted the seat) but Harper told him not to worry about it, Mr. PEI.

[jacee]

Seems to me that one of the issues that Duffy and Wallin are ending up wearing is billing the taxpayers for Party activities that should have been paid by the CPC, not the taxpayer.

It will be interesting to see whether Duffy or Wallin has a paper trail to the PMO on that issue: Who told them to work those events? Who told them to bill those partisan expenses to the taxpayer?

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Edited April 18, 2015 by jacee

[cybercoma]

Seems to me that one of the issues that Duffy and Wallin are ending up wearing is billing the taxpayers for Party activities that should have been paid by the CPC, not the taxpayer.

It's pretty strange that they would be taking the fall for this too, since so many other Conservatives have done the exact same thing, like the partisan garbage that litters my mailbox every couple of weeks.

[Topaz]

Isn't it pretty clear that Harper wanted Duffy for fund raising? I remember Duffy on CTV and all of a sudden he's running down the Liberals and sometimes the NDP, which he never did before on this program. Even though Harper have appointed what over 45-50 people to the senate, as PM, he would like to see it go, because then, the PMO would have all the power and no party in the PMO should have all the power.

[Michael Hardner]

And with Harper up in the polls, it seems like the same trait of Canadians to shrug at corruption is now benefitting the Conservatives...

[Smallc]

And with Harper up in the polls, it seems like the same trait of Canadians to shrug at corruption is now benefitting the Conservatives...

It's more a witch hunt than real corruption.

[On Guard for Thee]

What could get interesting, and scary for Harper, is that with the slowdown in the proceedings, and the presiding judge already stating that he is willing to extend the length of the trial due to its import, the trial could possibly run to wear the really nasty stuff, (i.e. the bribery portion and Wrights testimony) could occur as the election campaign is getting into full swing.

[Wilber]

It's more a witch hunt than real corruption.

No, it's a badly needed exposure of a group of people who know how to work a system but have no ethics.

Duffy spent years working the hill and learning how to game the system. When he got the opportunity, he made the most of it.

Regardless of the legal outcome, this is healthy.

[ToadBrother]

Isn't it pretty clear that Harper wanted Duffy for fund raising? I remember Duffy on CTV and all of a sudden he's running down the Liberals and sometimes the NDP, which he never did before on this program. Even though Harper have appointed what over 45-50 people to the senate, as PM, he would like to see it go, because then, the PMO would have all the power and no party in the PMO should have all the power.

There was an article in the National Post a day or two ago recounting how Duffy had been pursuing a Senate appointment for years; and a recounting of a story of him even trying to lobby Chretien. It casts Duffy's true blue credentials in some doubt to me. If he's lobbying Liberal and Conservative PMs to put him in the Red Chamber, it strikes me that he could best be described as something of a political prostitute; who would probably have been as a staunch a campaigner for the Grits had Chretien appointed him as he ended up being for Harper.

Frankly, I don't really like the idea of journalists being appointed to the Senate, or being made Governor Generals. In fact, journalists entering politics in general feels a little like crossing the line. Whether it's naive or not, one expects a certain degree of impartiality, and when a journalist throws their hat in the ring, or is appointed to a political or executive position, it calls into question their entire journalistic career. To my mind, nothing more retroactively undermines a journalist's reputation, particularly a political journalist's reputation, than the minute they enter politics.