Mike Duffy and PMO negotiate Senate repayment
Anatomy of a mea culpa
Duffy was concerned about an audit of his Senate living expenses underway by Deloitte, which sought to determine, among other things, whether he and a number of other senators actually qualified to represent the provinces they were appointed to represent.
On Feb. 8 the embattled Duffy released a statement to the media. "I have a home in Prince Edward Island as required by law," the statement read. "I have retained legal counsel, and will vigorously defend against the suggestion that I am not qualified to be a PEI Senator. I will have no further comment until this review is complete."
Then on Friday, February 22, Duffy sent a text to Bruce Rainnie, host of the local P.E.I. CBC supper news hour show Compass.
Duffy said he was ready to talk, but gave no indication what he might have to say. Knowing this would be a story of national interest, Rainnie asked Duffy when he'd like to come in to record an interview.
Rainnie recalls the response came at about 3 p.m. Duffy wanted to tape an hour after that. Rainnie and other local CBC staff remember seeing Duffy in his car parked in front of the building, stabbing away at his Blackberry as he delayed the interview to 4:15, then 4:30. The interview ended up running live into the show just after 5:00.
In that interview, Duffy said he had talked it over with his wife, and they would voluntarily repay tens of thousands of dollars in living expenses related to their home in Ottawa.
Emails made public during Duffy's ongoing trial show the deal-making and script revisions which were taking place right up until the final moments before Duffy made his statement, but the negotiations began shortly after that Feb. 8 media statement.