There will be no escaping the Mike Duffy trial. With the national media descending on a nondescript Ottawa courtroom, and the 135-seat overflow room, resistance will be futile. Why would anyone want to resist? The political theatre will be glorious. Secrets will be revealed, backroom politicking will be exposed, and the court will pass judgment on the credibility of the powerful.
Or none of that will happen. After all, the Duffy trial is taking place in the often-sterile court of law. This is not an episode of House of Cards.
Nonsense you say. This is not just about Camembert! Duffy is charged with defrauding the Senate. Duffy is alleged to have accepted a secret bribe from Nigel Wright. The old Duff breached the public trust. There will be evidence from the Prime Minister’s inner circle, testimony from high ranking Conservative senators — heck, even Ezra Levant is testifying; how can the whole spectacle not be entertaining?
Let’s take a deep breath, lower expectations, and look at what this trial may really look like.
The first 28 charges Duffy faces deal with fraud. The allegation is that Duffy misled the Senate about his residency and incurred inappropriate expenses. Ask any lawyer, or unlucky juror, about their most boring trial and they will tell you about a fraud they had the misfortune of being involved with — you know the one with boxes of financial documents and pages of rules and regulations. Fraud is mind-numbingly dull.
Full article at: The National Post
