| "Yeah, we was framed! Somebody put money in our pockets when we wasn't looking!" |
"I have been directed by my clients to contact the RCMP to ask that they investigate the possibility that the party itself may have been the target of fraud or other harmful acts by certain individuals," Mitchell told reporters.
"Using inappropriate means to gain undeserved benefit . . . is, if proven to be true, criminal action, plain and simple."
| "Unless it points to us, of course!" |
The details of Brault's testimony, delivered Thursday and Friday, are covered by a publication ban. But the testimony was said to be so serious that all federal political parties were working on election scenarios.
The Liberals launched into full defensive mode Monday, seeking and winning full standing at the inquiry that allows them to cross-examine Brault and other witnesses. In granting the status to the Liberals, inquiry judge John Gomery acknowledged the potentially damaging nature of testimony he has heard.
"The reputation of the party risks being affected by what I've heard and maybe by what I will hear," said Gomery. "I think it would be unfair if the Liberal party didn't have the right to cross-examine witnesses." The Liberals already had intervener status at the inquiry.
Gomery is probing all aspects of the $250-million sponsorship program, including allegations that public money was funnelled into the coffers of the Liberal party's Quebec wing. The inquiry has already heard from former advertising staff who said their bosses, who had grown rich off sponsorship contracts, pressured them to donate money to the Liberals.
| There's a word for that, oh yes...extortion |
| Either you're; A - throwing it away on stupid, meaningless programs to promote your grasp on power; B - stashing it away in a private retirement fund; C - spending it on hookers and booze, or; D - all of the above. |
NDP Leader Jack Layton and Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay have both shied away from suggestions their parties could force a quick election over the latest revelations. The Conservatives said Monday they opposed the motion asking for Liberal lawyers to cross-examine witnesses. Party lawyers said in a letter to the inquiry they did not have sufficient time to contest the Liberal motion before Gomery.
Prior to Gomery issuing the publication ban, the inquiry heard testimony that shed more light on the links between sponsorship cash and the Liberal party's Quebec wing. The inquiry also heard last fall that another ad agency, Media IDA Vision, donated $5,000 to the Quebec wing out of the same account in which it kept sponsorship money. The RCMP was called in but found insufficient evidence for criminal prosecution.
Gomery ruled Monday that the Treasury Board will pay for the Liberals' lawyers at the commission.
| Following in the grand tradition of the United Nations |
The publication ban was imposed by Gomery last week to safeguard Brault's right to a fair trial in separate criminal proceedings that are pending against him.
But the gag order, which applies across Canada, did not prevent some of the testimony from leaking into the public domain over the weekend through a U.S.-based web log. As we have reported. It ran a report mixing some factual material with editorial commentary.