It was rather a stunning result, where Senator Mike Duffy was acquitted of all 31 charges against him for fraud, breach of trust and bribery. The judge ruled that he found Duffy to be a credible witness, and said largely ruled that Duffy followed what few rules there were in place at the time, a fact that many would contest – there were rules that Duffy indeed skirted, but not to the degree of criminality, according to the judge. In fact, it goes against the very ruling of former Justice Ian Binnie in his arbitration report, who noted that there were rules and there was also common sense in determining the eligibility of expenses, and while he didn’t rule on criminality, it does contradict some of the judge’s reasoning in the Duffy verdict. That the judge singled out the PMO for scathing words is of very little comfort, particularly because of his belief that they somehow overrode Duffy’s free will in “forcing” him to accept that $90,000 cheque. Duffy is now free to return to work in the Senate, but he may not find it a very welcoming place, given his direct culpability to the hits on the institution’s credibility. That, and there will be eyes on his spending at all times, particularly by those senators who knew that there were rules in place – despite what Bayne and eventually the judge felt – and those rules have only become more stringent since. More from Köhler, Harper and Reevely, while Reevely had a few other thoughts over Twitter that also bear repeating.
After a full day in court, bits and pieces come back to you later. Right now it’s the assertion that Mike Duffy had no motive for fraud.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
He and his wife Heather had money, exhibits showed. Not a ton, but enough cash and access to credit for all their needs.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
Also, Duffy pocketed no cash from any of his impugned transactions. No deposits went into his account. No kickbacks.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
I don’t really get how that would mean he’d have no motive to put tens of thousands of dollars in trips, etc., on the taxpayer.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
Like, I can afford to buy my lunch. But if I find a way to bill the $8 to my employer, I still have $8 more for whatever I want.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
It was a headshaker for me when Don Bayne argued it, and a headshaker again to hear the judge repeating it.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 21, 2016
One thing that counted in Duffy’s favour, when it came to both residency and expense claims, was that he checked with other people.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 22, 2016
He was concerned about his residency status in PEI when he was first appointed. The Ctown Guardian ran an op-ed saying he wasn’t resident.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 22, 2016
So Duffy went and asked some people. The PM, Marjory LeBreton, David Tkachuk, the Senate Tory “guru” on such rules.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 22, 2016
He was assured it would be fine, and acted on those assurances, and that helps his argument that he had no guilty mind.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 22, 2016
All those people, of course, had a powerful interest in reassuring Duffy that it would be fine, and then in suppressing criticism.
— David Reevely (@davidreevely) April 22, 2016