Senate scandal struck fear in PMO, but Mike Duffy had hand in dealing with his file, court hears

WATCH ABOVE: A senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office appears to be the employing the “I didn’t read it” defence in the Mike Duffy trial. Mike Le Couteur reports.

The Prime Minister’s Office feared the Senate expenses scandal would tarnish the Conservative brand, an Ottawa court heard Monday.

While Duffy’s residency claims were under the microscope of the Senate scandal, Chris Woodcock was the prime minister’s director of issues management, responsible for overseeing any potential conflicts or scandals.

READ MORE: Former PMO lawyer details fateful phone call outlining Nigel Wright’s $90,000 repayment plan

He is testifying Monday as a Crown witness at Duffy’s fraud, breach of trust and bribery trial —the third member of the prime minister’s inner circle to testify.

“We had a very clear position on in terms of trying to fix the Senate, and suddenly we were encountering a bunch of unwelcome stories about members of the government caucus who were claiming expenses that, on the surface, they did not appear to be entitled to.”

To him, the issue seemed to be one of “entitlement,” which was “just not consistent” with the Conservative approach to governing, he said.

READ MORE: Nigel Wright’s cross-examination ends with accusations of defence pushing political agenda

Despite the potential stains on the Conservative reputation, Woodcock said he never forced Duffy’s hand while crafting media strategies and statements —an assertion that goes against the heart of Duffy’s defence.

“I would contact Mr. Duffy asking questions about different media stories, and on other occasions he would contact me looking for advice … It was very much a two-way relationship.”

The beleaguered senator is on trial for a total of 31 charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud, all stemming from dubious housing expenses he claimed during his tenure as a Conservative senator, and the repayment thereof. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The Crown has made the case that Duffy was an “equal partner” or “instigator” of a scheme that would allow him to tell everyone he had repaid the money when, in truth, he’d managed to get someone else to.

READ MORE: Key players in the Mike Duffy trial

Duffy’s defence, on the other hand, says it was the other way around — that he was coerced into admitting he had improperly collected expenses, even though he firmly believed he had done nothing wrong.

Woodcock never unilaterally imposed lines on Duffy, though, he told the court.

The former PMO staffer said he became involved in the file in February 2013 at a time when a number of news outlets were featuring stories on senators’ expense claims, including Duffy’s.

In a broad sense, Woodcock’s job in the office was to know who in caucus was saying what, and why. Fundamentally, he’d had a good day if the government avoided any surprises. With so many twists and turns in the Senate expense file, he was kept on his toes.

With so many senators’ names floating around, though, why the specific interest in Duffy, the Crown asked.

When Woodcock became involved in the file, he was under the assumption Duffy would be repaying his expenses, which he understood to be about $32,000.

Eventually, however, the price tag ballooned to more than $90,000 and the prime minister’s then chief of staff provided the funds for Duffy to repay.

Wright wrote of his intention in an email to Woodcock, saying, “For you only: I am personally covering Duffy’s $90K.”

The witness said he didn’t see that line in the email – one of 700 to 1,000 he says he received daily in that job.