The Duffy Trial Starts to Suck In Stephen Harper

Ever since the Mike Duffy scandal erupted one question has never been properly answered.

How on earth did Duffy think he could get away with posing as a Senator from Prince Edward Island, when he had lived in Ottawa for decades?

And yesterday that question was finally answered.

It apparently wasn't Duffy's idea to pass himself off as the Senator from P.E.I., it was the fond wish, or the command, of his depraved patron Stephen Harper. 

Mike Duffy was concerned with the issues of eligibility of his Senate seat from almost the very moment he was appointed, and he raised those issues with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, sources tell CBC News. 

Duffy was so concerned, he asked Harper if he could represent Ontario, the province where he had lived for three decades. But sources say the prime minister needed to fill a P.E.I. seat and insisted Duffy represent the Island instead.

And since Harper later claimed that Duffy signed his declaration of residency before he appointed him, the revelation couldn't be more embarrassing.

Opposition NDP Leader Tom Mulcair asked about when Duffy had signed his declaration of residency. "The prime minister says Duffy signed it before being named. It is not true. Can the prime minister please tell Canadians which declaration he was referring us to, and when exactly did Mike Duffy sign it?" 

The prime minister did not directly respond to the question, but later said he would leave the matter to the courts.

Not just because it appears he bent the rules to appoint Duffy.

But also because it appears he also bent them, to appoint to the Senate, his VERY good friend Carolyn Stewart Olsen.



Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair moved to drag another Conservative senator into the Senate scandal Tuesday, questioning whether Carolyn Stewart Olsen met the residence requirements when Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed her to the upper chamber. 

“Carolyn Stewart Olsen not only lived in Ottawa, she worked side-by-side with the prime minister day in and day out as his press secretary,” Mulcair told the House of Commons during Question Period. “She was his communications director and frankly, his closest political confidante. So how is it possible that the prime minister thought Carolyn Stewart Olsen actually lived in New Brunswick when she was showing up to work for him here in Ottawa every single day?”

Which was another embarrassing question that Stephen Harper didn't want to answer yesterday.

“I certainly would not accept by any means the premise of that question,” he shot back. “What I would say is what is very clear, is that Mr. Duffy’s actions are before the court. The government has been assisting the RCMP in its investigation and the Crown in its presentation of the case. Those matters are before the court. We will let the court adjudicate those matters.”

But since Stewart Olsen has been summoned to testify at the Duffy trial, no doubt to explain, among other things, why she tried to whitewash a Senate report.

Conservative Senator Carolyn Stewart-Olsen moved a motion to revise the report on Senator Mike Duffy’s expenses, according to new details obtained by Global News. The source, a senior member of the Senate, said the report ended up dropping “tough language” against Duffy.

It's not a question that is going to go away.

And it will come back to haunt him, along with the question of Duffy's eligibility...



Because had he not bent the rules to appoint him, there would have been no scandal.

And that's before Nigel Wright is called to the stand to explain how the PMO tried to cover it up. And what Stephen Harper meant when he said the plan was "good to go."

Because it's now clear he did have a lot to cover-up.

And what also seems clear is that with every passing day, Harper is slowly being drawn or sucked into the heart of the Duffy trial.

And that by the time that trial reaches its climax, hopefully in the middle of the election campaign.

All the makeup in the world might not save him...



He corrupted the process, he appointed the wrong people, he tried to cover it up.

And with a little bit of luck, that freak show will degrade him beyond recognition.

And it will help destroy him...

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