"Mike Duffy trial timing seen as problem for Harper, Conservatives" [View all]

Mike Duffy trial timing seen as problem for Harper, Conservatives

By Hannah Thibedeau, CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mike-duffy-trial-timing-seen-as-problem-for-harper-conservatives-1.2765471

"SNIP.......................


Stephen Harper and the Conservatives should be worried about the pending trial of suspended Senator Mike Duffy because of "what Mike might have up his sleeve," a former senior adviser to the prime minister says.

Keith Beardsley, who served for five years as Harper's deputy chief of staff for issues management, warned the court proceedings could leave Harper and his staff scrambling to put out fires.

"Duffy, being the showman, he'll release whatever he can release when it's the most damaging and that's what the party, the prime minister, PMO has to be on guard for. And they just sit and wait for it to come and you have no control over those types of situations, you simply react," Beardsley told CBC News.

"So as we get closer, the longer this goes on and the closer it gets to the election date, the more damaging that type of information is."

........................SNIP"