In a statement Thursday evening, Wynne said while Sorbara will not be joining the campaign team, she will continue to count on her personal friendship.

Sorbara and Lougheed were accused of offering Liberal candidate hopeful Andrew Olivier a position to step down for Wynne’s preferred candidate (now Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault) in a 2015 Sudbury byelection.

A judge has acquitted two Ontario Liberals of bribery charges under the Election Act, in relation to the Sudbury byelection case.

The judge deciding a case against two Ontario Liberals facing bribery charges under the Election Act is questioning the merits of one of the charges against a former top staffer to the premier.

Lawyers have filed written arguments for the directed verdict application that's set to be heard Oct. 10 in Sudbury, before the defence has even called any witnesses.

Sorbara and Lougheed are accused of offering a would-be candidate a job or appointment to step aside for Thibeault.

The allegations at the centre of the trial revolve around the 2015 byelection that saw Glenn Thibeault leave the federal NDP and successfully run for the Ontario Liberals.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has taken the stand in a bribery trial involving a former top adviser and a Liberal fundraiser.

Pat Sorbara, the premier's former deputy chief of staff and Liberal campaign director, and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal organizer, are charged under the Election Act, accused of offering would-be candidate Andrew Olivier a job or appointment to get him to step aside for Wynne's preferred candidate in a 2015 Sudbury byelection.

Pat Sorbara, the Ontario Liberal Party CEO at the time of the allegations, and Gerry Lougheed, a local Liberal fundraiser, are facing bribery charges under the Election Act.