Canadian senator fights expulsion, corruption charges

A lawyer for a Canadian senator at the center of an expense scandal today accused his own Tory leadership of "driving a mob hunt for him," while denying any wrongdoing.
Senator Mike Duffy, and two other Conservative senators appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- face a criminal probe after an audit revealed "troubling" expense claims.
Canada's Senate is to vote on motions tomorrow, whether to suspend them without pay, accusing them of "gross negligence."
"The problem is not with Senator Duffy. It's with the existing rules," his lawyer Donald Bayne told a press conference.
Bayne said Duffy was repeatedly assured by the Senate Tory leadership and the prime minister's office that his travel and housing expense claims were valid.

But because the spending was not sitting well with voters, including the ruling Conservatives' supporters, Bayne said the prime minister's office concocted a scheme to repay the expenses in order to try to kill the story, which has been a drag on the party's popularity.

Duffy's objections to the plan, he said, were "greeted with pressure and threats by the prime minister's office."
"The PMO (prime minister's office) had decided they wanted to sweep a political embarrassment to their Tory base under the rug and they threatened Senator Duffy with... Throwing him out of the Senate... If he failed to go along with it."

The scandal and an alleged coverup, Bayne alleged, "was being manipulated behind the scenes."
In addition to the primary allegations, Duffy is also being investigated for having accepted a CanUSD 90,000 check from Harper's chief of staff to help the lawmaker repay funds he had claimed as Senate expenses.
Harper's right-hand man, Nigel Wright, resigned in May after revealing the payment.
The opposition last week accused Harper of having misled the House of Commons when he said he knew nothing about the transaction.
Harper today again rejected accusations linking him personally to the scandal.