Nigel Wright redacted Stephen Harper email about Mike Duffy expense controversy, court hears
Stephen Harper's former chief of staff Nigel Wright redacted an email from the prime minister that demanded the issue with Senator Mike Duffy's housing and living expenses be resolved quickly, court heard Friday.
Donald Bayne raised the existence of the email Friday during his cross-examination of Wright at Duffy's Ottawa trial.
Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed in 2013 as a senator and later repaid with money from Wright.
Bayne said the email came directly from the prime minister, through Ray Novak, who was then Harper's principal secretary and is now his current chief of staff. (On Thursday, The Canadian Press reported that Novak had received an email that Wright was among those told Duffy didn't pay back his own contested expenses.)
Bayne said Wright redacted the email as "irrelevant" but he said it was about Harper wanting the issue regarding Duffy resolved quickly.
Wright said he redacted the email because when he was initially collecting his emails for the ethics commissioner, he didn't think it was relevant.
..more....
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/politics/n...ffy-expense-controversy-court-hears-1.3190761
Stephen Harper's former chief of staff Nigel Wright redacted an email from the prime minister that demanded the issue with Senator Mike Duffy's housing and living expenses be resolved quickly, court heard Friday.
Donald Bayne raised the existence of the email Friday during his cross-examination of Wright at Duffy's Ottawa trial.
Duffy has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery related to expenses he claimed in 2013 as a senator and later repaid with money from Wright.
Bayne said the email came directly from the prime minister, through Ray Novak, who was then Harper's principal secretary and is now his current chief of staff. (On Thursday, The Canadian Press reported that Novak had received an email that Wright was among those told Duffy didn't pay back his own contested expenses.)
Bayne said Wright redacted the email as "irrelevant" but he said it was about Harper wanting the issue regarding Duffy resolved quickly.
Wright said he redacted the email because when he was initially collecting his emails for the ethics commissioner, he didn't think it was relevant.
..more....
http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/politics/n...ffy-expense-controversy-court-hears-1.3190761