OTTAWA – Mike Duffy’s lawyer portrayed Nigel Wright as the ringleader of “cohorts and underlings” behind a “conspiratorial strategy” in the prime minister’s office to force the suspended senator to repay $90,000 in living expenses he didn’t really owe because it was politically damaging to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
As Duffy’s trial wrapped for the first day, defence lawyer Donald Bayne also alleged – reading from a police transcript heard in public for the first time – that Harper knew Wright believed Duffy had a legal and technical argument to claim the expenses, but ordered the repayment anyway.
Watch: The case is expected to shine a light on what went on behind closed doors on Parliament Hill. Jacques Bourbeau reports.
“All of this was for purely political advantage to the government,” Bayne told the court, calling it a “fraud, a fiction and a lie.”
Wright ended up paying the expenses himself, and subsequently resigned or was fired from his job.
Bayne also alleged three top Conservative senators – David Tkachuk, Marjory LeBreton and Carolyn Stewart Olsen – were in on the conspiracy to force Duffy to repay what he believed were valid and legal expenses.
All three senators, as well as Wright, are set to testify as Crown witnesses.
But the Crown says it’s the other way around, calling Duffy an equal partner, “if not the instigator,” of the deal to have Wright pay back the expenses.
‘I wanted the PM to know’
Bayne read from Wright’s police statement in which he reportedly told investigators that on Feb. 22, 2013, he told Harper that Duffy was going to repay the money, admit he made a mistake, and that the government would have consistent media lines.
But Bayne also quoted Wright as saying the government is “forcing” Duffy to repay money he probably didn’t know.
“I wanted the (prime minister) to know that and be comfortable with that,” Bayne quoted Wright as saying.
“The prime minister knowing all of this from Nigel Wright on February 22, gave the go-ahead to this course of action,” Bayne told the court.
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It was the same day Wright is quoted in emails obtained by the RCMP released by the court as telling Benjamin Perrin, lawyer for the PMO, that Harper was “good to go.”
However, Harper has repeatedly denied knowing it was Wright who personally repaid the $90,000, and the RCMP have said in documents there is no evidence the prime minister knew the money came from his former chief of staff.
A spokesman for the PMO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But Harper said at a news conference in Vancouver on Tuesday he doesn’t believe he will be tied to the $90,000.
“I had no knowledge of these things and will not be called as a witness,” Harper said.
“We have offered the Crown every possible assistance in their case against Mr. Duffy and will continue to do so.”
Duffy pleaded not guilty to 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and one count of bribery.
Personal trips and puppies
Earlier in the day, prosecutor Mark Holmes laid out the Crown’s case against Duffy, alleging he billed taxpayers for personal and family trips – including to British Columbia to see his daughter’s play, or Peterborough, Ont. to attend a dog show and potentially scope out a puppy – that had nothing to do with his work as a senator.
Holmes alleges Duffy billed the Senate about $2,000 a month in living expenses he wasn’t entitled to because he lived in Kanata, Ont., and not Prince Edward Island – the province he was appointed to represent.
“Senator Duffy is probably ineligible…to sit as a senator in Prince Edward Island,” Holmes told the court.
READ MORE: Mike Duffy back at Ottawa home as fraud trial looms
He also said Duffy “opted out” of the upper chamber’s financial oversight by awarding $65,000 worth of Senate contracts to his friend Gerald Donohue, who in turn handed them out to a makeup artist, personal trainer and an honorarium for an office volunteer.
Bayne countered with his own version of events, arguing that the “common sense” analogy put forth by the Crown doesn’t apply to the Senate.
He said as soon as Duffy was appointed by Harper in 2009 as the senator for PEI, he constitutionally became a resident.
WATCH: Mike Duffy and his lawyer arrive to a throng of media at Ottawa courthouse.
Bayne said, for the purpose of claiming residency money, there were no Senate rules around the amount of time a senator has to stay in his primary or secondary residence.
Rules around residency and expenses for all 105 senators are unclear, Bayne said.
“Senator Duffy is not to blame if they are found lacking,” he said
While there may have been “administrative errors” in some expense claims, he said Duffy did not have corrupt or fraudulent intent.
As for the contracts, Bayne argued, according to Senate rules, senators have full discretion on the work performed and staff hired to do it.
What’s more, “he was far from alone among 105 senators.”
Bayne said the personal trainer who was paid $10,000 over three years was also a legitimate consultant who did science research.
“He’s not the picture of overwhelming fitness,” Bayne said of his client.
Bayne said Duffy hired a makeup artist who was paid $300 because he was asked to appear alongside Harper at the G8 conference in Huntsville, Ont.
And, Bayne alleges, she also did the prime minister’s makeup that day.
– With a file from The Canadian Press
See Duffy trial exhibits below:
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