Trustscam: Paul Martin Knew

It's no surprise that PMO knew about the income trust tax decision before the general public did. It would have been negligent, if not outright incompetent, for Finance to have withheld the information from head office.

What's surprising is that Paul Martin isn't denying that the leak to Bay Street might have come from his office:

When asked if the alleged leak could have come from the PMO, the prime minister didn't give a direct answer.

"The fact is we are dealing with opposition allegations. And that's all we are dealing with. Opposition allegations during an election campaign," said Martin. "The RCMP obviously have a responsibility to follow up on matters such as this. That's their job."

Martin said he believes the spike in trading is simply a reflection of how markets operate.

"There are a lot of people who are essentially ... saying out there that what you're dealing with is ... simply the way that ... markets function," said the prime minister.

If the income trust leak is merely an opposition allegation, why is the RCMP involved at all? For that matter, why the rush to pre-emptively exonerate Ralph Goodale, if not to try to head off the RCMP from looking into these mere opposition allegations?

Why not simply deny that anyone in PMO leaked?

Because know that the RCMP is involved, he can't, not without risking being caught lying in the middle of a criminal investigation.

Paul Martin could have retreated behind the usual statement that he could not comment about an ongoing RCMP investigation, and forestalled a lot of media speculation about what PMO knew and what it with the information.

Now he's fuelling it, just as he fuelled election talk and planning by promising to call an election within 30 days of the Gomery report.

Sometimes offering an explanation or excuse in advance makes matters worse.

Source: CBC