WATCH ABOVE: Global News caught up with suspended Senator Mike Duffy at his house in P.E.I. Mike Le Couteur reports on what he had to say and why he’s looking forward to his trial.
Mike Duffy is “looking forward” to his day in court, the embattled senator told Global News on Friday.
Holding his screen door slightly ajar, Duffy spoke very briefly with Global News’ Ross Lord at the front entrance of the suspended senator’s cottage in PEI.
The former TV personality quickly noticed the small microphone on Lord’s lapel, but heard the reporter out as he explained Global would like to hear the senator’s thoughts following yesterday’s announcement the RCMP was laying 31 charges on him in the relation to his expense claims, consulting contracts and a $90,000 cheque Nigel Wright gave him to pay off improper expenses.
READ MORE: RCMP lay charges against Mike Duffy
“The matter is before the courts,” Duffy said. “I’ll have my opportunity to tell my side of the story in court. And I’m looking forward to it.”
Of particular interest throughout the scandal has been the now-infamous $90,000 cheque passed to Duffy from Nigel Wright — Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s then-chief of staff — so the senator could quietly repay what he was suspected of owing taxpayers
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There’s been speculation that Duffy may seize the opportunity to turn his court hearings into a showy opportunity to implicate as many people as possible.
WATCH: Mike Duffy talks to Global News
During a statement in the Senate last fall — made while his colleagues debated whether to suspend him along with fellow disgraced colleagues Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau — Duffy dramatically revealed his version of the scandal in a voice befitting a former broadcast journalist telling the story of a lifetime.
The allegations he made against the prime minister and his inner circle during that statement dominated headlines and newscasts for days.
Duffy is expected in court Sept. 16 to face the 31 charges, including multiple counts of each fraud and breach of trust and one count of bribery.
The suspended senator has maintained innocence throughout the 16-month affair and continues to, despite yesterday’s RCMP announcement.
READ MORE: What’s the political fallout of the Duffy Affair?
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