Nigel Wright, Stephen Harper's Ex-Chief Of Staff, Broke Ethics Rules In Duffy Scandal: Watchdog

OTTAWA — Former prime minister Stephen Harper's one-time chief of staff was never prosecuted for his role in Mike Duffy's Senate expenses fiasco but now Nigel Wright is getting a belated slap on the wrist from the federal ethics watchdog.

In a long-awaited report released Thursday, ethics commissioner Mary Dawson says Wright broke both the Parliament of Canada Act and the Conflict of Interest Act when he personally gave Duffy $90,000 to repay the Senate for questionable living expense claims.

Wright-Duffy affair must be cautionary tale for Trudeau’s Liberals

When at the age of 80, Nigel Wright lies between his Frette sheets, his bespoke suits long gone to Goodwill, I often wonder whether he will believe he served the Lord, or the Dark Lord, in his brief stint in public service?

With the criminal trial of Mike Duffy set to resume, the curious and controversial role that Wright played in this soap opera of trough politics and shady payoffs is worth reconsidering. A new PMO is in the process of being cobbled together and the Harper operation offers a cautionary tale of how not to do it.

Mike Duffy trial: 7 things we learned from Nigel Wright's testimony

After six days in the witness box, including five under intense cross-examination, Nigel Wright wrapped up his testimony on Wednesday, answering a number of questions that had been outstanding since he left the Prime Minister's Office and his role as Stephen Harper's chief of staff in May 2013.

Former PMO lawyer contradicts Harper and campaign on Duffy scandal

OTTAWA - Stephen Harper's top aide and election director Ray Novak boomeranged back into the centre of the Mike Duffy coverup scandal, as the testimony of a former PMO lawyer directly contradicted the Conservative election campaign.

For the past several days, Harper and his team have rejected evidence that suggested current chief of staff Novak was privy to his predecessor Nigel Wright's secret repayment of Sen. Duffy's contested expenses in 2013.

Wright's $90,000 cheque is at the heart of some of the 31 charges that Duffy is now facing.

From 'Regret' To 'Deception': How Harper's View Of Nigel Wright Changed

Stephen Harper insisted Sunday he "took action" once he learned that Sen. Mike Duffy used funds provided by Nigel Wright, the prime minister's former chief of staff, to repay questionable expenses.

But a quick look back to May of 2013, when news of Wright's infamous $90,000 cheque first broke, may paint a different picture.

Struggling Harper needs supporters to suspend disbelief in Wright/Duffy debacle

“…We care more about looking good than about truly being good. Intuitions come first, strategic reasoning second. We lie, cheat, and cut ethical corners quite often when we think we can get away with it, and then we use our moral thinking to manage our reputations and justify ourselves to others. We believe our own post hoc reasoning so thoroughly that we end up self-righteously convinced of our own virtue.”
— Jonathan Haidt in The Righteous Mind.

If there is a better description of how the government of Stephen Harper has conducted its business, I haven’t found it.

From Paul Calandra to Nigel Wright, the political washing machine is always set on spin.

Mike Duffy's Lawyer Takes Aim At Nigel Wright's Image During Cross Examination

OTTAWA — Mike Duffy's defence lawyer ripped into Nigel Wright's choir-boy image Friday as he used his cross-examination of Stephen Harper's former chief of staff to slowly pick apart the bribery charge against his client.

Donald Bayne pulled no punches during his inquisition, trying to discredit Wright by suggesting he and others in the Prime Minister's Office had strong-armed Duffy into a expense-repayment scheme the senator did not support.

Harper's Wright hand flops in court

Donald Bayne, lawyer for disgraced Senator Mike Duffy, wasted no time with the prosecution’s star witness, Nigel Wright, on Thursday.

Eschewing the rote introductory pleasantries lawyers use to anesthetize witnesses, Bayne commenced his surgical cross-examination with dispatch and a hacksaw. Within minutes Wright's calm self-assurance gave way to an expression of consternation. With few moments of light-hearted relief, his furrowed brow remained fixedly in place for the rest of the day.

Nigel Wright's Testimony Is Insulting to Canadians

"I had an obligation to fulfill my end of the arrangement with him (Duffy). I couldn't think of another way of doing it."

Is anyone else profoundly insulted and deeply offended by this self-effacing statement from Nigel Wright as to why he forked over $90,000 of his own money, in secret, to pay Mike Duffy's debts?

Wright cites Scripture as reason for $90,000 'good deed' for Duffy

OTTAWA — Mike Duffy's lawyer, Donald Bayne, tore into Nigel Wright during cross-examination Thursday, suggesting the prime minister's former chief of staff created a "deliberately deceptive scenario" for Canadians.

Bayne peppered Wright with questions all morning Thursday, maintaining that a "scheme" was orchestrated inside the Prime Minister's Office to push Duffy to repay his expenses.

The loyal soldier: Nigel Wright on the stand

The North Pole. Tom Mulcair nailed it: it’s a great place to visit if you happen to be Stephen Harper this month.

On the day the Conservative business establishment’s poster-boy, former Harper chief of staff Nigel Wright, took the stand in Senator Mike Duffy’s controversial corruption trial, the man who fired him (or said he did, at any rate) was on his way via Edmonton and B.C. to press the flesh among the polar bears.

You’ve got to hand it to Harper: he runs true to form, whether it’s to the Arctic, South America or the nearest closet. When CTV’s Bob Fife broke Duffygate, an alleged tale of tawdry payoffs and illicit expenses, Harper shuffled off on a foreign trip to avoid the heat in the kitchen back home.

Mike Duffy Trial: Wright Says PM Was Unaware Party Would Repay Duffy's Expenses On His Behalf

OTTAWA — Inside the Prime Minister's Office, they called it the "scenario for repayment" — a plan that would make the Mike Duffy expenses scandal quietly go away, without anyone suggesting the senator had done wrong.

Nigel Wright, the marquee witness at Duffy's fraud, breach of trust and bribery trial on Wednesday, said he didn't tell former boss Stephen Harper that the deal involved someone else paying Duffy's contested expenses.

Stephen Harper Denies He Said 'Good To Go' To Nigel Wright About Mike Duffy Cheque

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is denying he told his former chief of staff Nigel Wright he was “good to go” with a $90,000 payment to embattled senator Mike Duffy.

Harper, who was campaigning in Ottawa Sunday, was asked about Duffy’s fraud, breach of trust and bribery trial resuming this week.

Which way will Nigel Wright jump?

The trial (or is it ‘smile’?) of the century is about to resume.

Before it’s done, Mike Duffy’s day in court could resemble an extended Rick Mercer skit. In the end, the former happy Buddha of the news biz could wind up convicted of … being a senator. (Unless, of course, the Royal Conservative Mounted Police learn that Duffy converted to Islam just before he took all that money.)

So far, nothing has been established in court to suggest that Duffy’s lawyer, Donald Bayne, is far wrong when he describes his client’s behaviour in office as “normative” given the Senate rules in place at the time.

Nigel Wright, Senators, MPs To Testify At Mike Duffy Trial: Reports

OTTAWA - There's word Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, senators and Conservative members of Parliament have received subpoenas to testify at the trial of suspended Sen. Mike Duffy.

The CBC quotes sources familiar with the Crown's witness list as saying David van Hemmen, Wright’s former executive assistant, and Benjamin Perrin, who acted as the prime minister’s lawyer, have also been called to testify.

RCMP and prosecutors must disclose details about why they did not prosecute Nigel Wright for his payment to Senator Mike Duffy, as B.C. prosecutor did in similar situation

OTTAWA – Today, Democracy Watch called on the RCMP officials and prosecutors who decided not to charge and prosecute Nigel Wright for his payment of more than $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy to provide a detailed written explanation of their decision, as a B.C. prosecutor did in the Dobell case in 2008 (To see the explanation in B.C. case, click here (PDF document).

More than 31,000 Canadians have signed an online petition calling for a public explanation whenever prosecutors decide not to prosecute someone involved in the Senate spending scandal, as well as for fully independent prosecutors to oversee the investigations to ensure decisions are made based on the facts and the law and no other considerations.

Nigel Wright set to return to Onex, CEO says

Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff, is poised to return to Onex Corp., CEO Gerald Schwartz said yesterday.

Wright, who left the Prime Minister's Office in May 2013 after cutting a personal cheque to pay back improper expenses for Senator Mike Duffy, is a former managing director of the private equity firm.

RCMP Did Not Consult Public Prosecutor On Nigel Wright

OTTAWA - The RCMP do not appear to have seriously considered using the Parliament of Canada Act to lay charges against Nigel Wright for his central role in the Senate expenses scandal, even though some parliamentary law experts believe the statute offered the best chance of securing a conviction.

Sect. 16 of the act stipulates that it's an indictable offence — punishable by a year imprisonment and a fine of $500 to $2,000 — to offer compensation to a sitting senator in regard to "any claim, controversy, arrest or other matter before the Senate."

Nigel Wright Clarification Needed From RCMP, NDP Says

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson has been asked to explain why the Mounties declined to lay charges against Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff, over Wright's payment to suspended Senator Mike Duffy.

NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus has questioned Paulson about whether investigators discussed that decision with the director of public prosecutions or with anyone from Attorney General Peter MacKay's office.

Peter MacKay Pushed To Enforce Parliamentary Law In Senate Scandal

OTTAWA - Federal Liberals are trying to drag Justice Minister Peter MacKay into the Senate expenses scandal, urging him to ensure no legal stone is unturned in the quest to prosecute all those involved.

Liberal justice critic Sean Casey wrote MacKay on Friday, arguing that he has a legal duty to ensure that public affairs are conducted lawfully.

In particular, Casey said MacKay has a statutory obligation to ensure enforcement of Sec. 16 of the Parliament of Canada Act, which so far appears to have been ignored by the RCMP as it investigates allegations against Sen. Mike Duffy and Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff.