CFN – It’s far to easy to throw scorn at Mike Duffy now that he’s been charged by the RCMP. While some of the charges are clearly based on actions that he took on his own, he clearly could not actually be guilty for most of them without metaphorical blood on other’s hands?
After all you can’t be charged with accepting a bribe unless someone offered it to you?
And if certain information was submitted for expenses someone was responsible for vetting it?
Surely other people should be charged if Mr. Duffy has been?
The amount of time involved before these charges have been laid seems like a lifetime. A 16 month investigation since the scandal went public.
How can someone like Nigel Wright, and others be clear of any charges; but Mike Duffy is being publicly crucified?
How can the prime minister himself not have blood on his own hands in this scandal. Does any reasonable person actually believe that he was unaware of any of what went down as it went down?
It would be interesting to put each and every Senator’s expenses to the same test that the Duffy investigators used to lay all of these charges against the former Senator.
The PM’s Director of Communications was quoted:
Those who break the rules must suffer the consequences
What this writer wants to know is if that quote is relevant to everyone or just to those that upset the PM?
This should be a very very interesting trial of Mr. Duffy; and it’s something that every Canadian should watch as it will peel at least a few layers of what goes on behind closed political doors.
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For a bribery charge to stick, there has to be the intent of personal gain of some sort. This lets Wright off the hook.
Either way, the timing of this trial will help sink the Cons in the next election. Harper will be stepping down to spend more time with his cats before winter.
If anyone should be charged with bribery it is Nigel Wright.
Harpoon Harper and the Cons will either do everything they can to make sure they hang Duffy out to dry by himself or do all they can to make sure the trial isn’t during the 2015 election campaign.
Nigel Wright did nothing wrong except to lend Duffy $90,000 to pay back monies that he stole! Wright used his own money and there was no benefit to him hence no charges. Duffy took the money and corruptly benefited and was charged. Too bad that Duffy got caught with his hand in the cookie jar……but, you do the crime so you do the time!
Stan that’s not wholly true. His job entailed protecting the PM. If the loan helped do that; ie helped his job performance; that would help ensure his employment, no?
Stan….you actually believe Nigel Wright acted alone in this?
Wright didn’t need the job. He was in it to “serve”. In fact, he didn’t even put in for legitimate job expenses like travel, meals and hotel accommodations. He might have been misguided and naive re the Duffy payment, but there was no criminal intent. Hence, no criminal charge.
Lets see Mike Duffy didn’t make it through high school and Nigel Wright is a lawyer who went to Harvard
Nigel even worked for kim campbell he in no way is misguided he was a loyal servant that would do anything to keep his PM safe
Furtz…whether criminal intent or not Nigel Wright should be charged. AS StopDrone/strikes said he was keeping the PM safe. Harpoon Harper’s fingerprints are all over this.
Cops generally don’t lay charges if there’s no chance of conviction. What he did might have been stupid, but it wasn’t illegal or criminal. It doesn’t fit the legal definition of a bribe because there was no personal gain to be had. I’m sure the crown lawyers have looked at it from all angles.
No personal gain? I guess it depends on how “personal gain” is defined. To me Nigel Wright paid Mike Duffy to keep him quiet in the Senate scandal and protect Harpoon Harper.
You are probably correct about his motive Hugger. But how would one prove that beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law? Just because you and I and most people think we can smell a rat, it doesn’t mean that the rats existence can be proven. If there was evidence that Wright offered the money in exchange for Duffy’s silence or anything else, he would have been charged. That’s the way our legal system works.
Let us not forget pm brian mulroney who rcmp went after over air bus
He got the rcmp to apologize and got a 25 million dollar settlement ONLY for Journalists to prove later he was getting envelopes full of cash…all over the world
Just wait if Duffy ever gets to court the backroom dealers and cutthroat behavior of PMO and those around him will shock Canadians or maybe not
SDS I do believe it was much less, about $2M
The entire gang and the entire system is nothing but lies and corruption to the hilt. I will never ever vote ever again. Crooks in action.