Warren Kinsella had a bad day today. He was in Ottawa testifying before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Kinsella writes in his blog:
“Right about now, people in the Langevin Block are leaning on other people on the public payroll – you can guess who they are – to disavow whatever I am obliged to say. Operation Repudiation will begin minutes after I am asked the first question.
Count on it.
(To ensure clarity, I am going to be asked to be sworn in.)”
Kinsella complained that he had received an intimidating phone call from a staff member in the PMO minutes before he was set to testify. During his testimony, Kinsella disclosed:
“I received a phone call from an individual a few minutes before I came here indicating that Mr. Dingwall would disavow everything I had to say here today.”
His weariness of Scott Reid in the PMO is quite justified. Paul “Dithers” Martin was fingered today by Kinsella in his testimony today before the commitee. Warren testified that Martin, when he was finance minister, secured questionable government contracts for companies that were close to Martin. Kinsella expressed his protest to the alleged corruption in a letter to Martin senior advisor Terrie O’Leary concerning polling contracts with Earnescliffe in 1994:
“Terrie, all of this spells trouble and you know it. The competition was flawed, the payment is excessive, the work is probably not needed, and the research community can be fully expected to blow the whistle on the political connections here.”
Kinsella pointed a big finger today and he’s weary of the consequences:
“I can think of a million other places I’d rather be, today, than in Ottawa. On Parliament Hill.
It’s analogous to journalists, who hate being interviewed by other journalists: hacks like me, who help out on election campaigns, hate being election campaign fodder.”
Kinsella has tied Paul Martin into the sponsorship scandal while the PMO is (allegedly) pressuring him and attempting to discredit him. I think that Warren just opened up a new and explosive chapter of Adscam.
UPDATE: Part of the Kinsella testimony is up with CTV interview of WK. (hat tip: Andrew Coyne)
UPDATE II: Kinsella is suing PMO mouthpiece Scott Reid (hat tip: Ben)