Conservative deputy chief of staff caught lying to the press -- by Sun Media

[fuji]

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/04/26/alls-not-fair-in-war

Deputy Chief of Staff to Harper caught fudging stories and trying to plant false information in the press about Ignatieff. The Conservatives have cut him loose, but I have very little doubt this sort of corrupt attitude is rife in the party from top to bottom.

Three weeks ago, our vice-president for Sun News, Kory Teneycke, was contacted by the former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Harper, Patrick Muttart. He claimed to be in possession of a report prepared by a "U.S. source", outlining the activities and whereabouts of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff in the weeks and months leading to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. The report suggested that rather than being an observer from the sidelines, as he wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece after he entered Canadian politics, Ignatieff was in fact on the front lines and on the ground at a forward operating base in Kuwait, assisting U.S. State Department and American military officials in their strategy sessions. Muttart also provided a compelling electronic image of a man very closely resembling Michael Ignatieff in American military fatigues, brandishing a rifle in a picture purported to have been taken in Kuwait in December 2002.

Bad information is an occupational hazard in this business, and fortunately our in-house protocols prevented the unthinkable. But it is the ultimate source of this material that is profoundly troubling to me, my colleagues and, I think, should be of concern to all Canadians. It is my belief that this planted information was intended to first and foremost seriously damage Michael Ignatieff's campaign but in the process to damage the integrity and credibility of Sun Media and, more pointedly, that of our new television operation, Sun News....

 

[exbrower]

He probably learned his craft under Bruce Carson.

 

[landscaper]

He was the former deputy chief of staff he has not been in that position for a couple of years , the least you can do is read the articles that you post

 

[blackrock13]

He was the former deputy chief of staff he has not been in that position for a couple of years , the least you can do is read the articles that you post

Well that makes two guys looking stupid.

 

[groggy]

Was he one of the con's charged by elections canada for cheating on the last election?
One of those brought in by the RCMP, or just another corrupt conservative?

 

[fuji]

He was the former deputy chief of staff he has not been in that position for a couple of years , the least you can do is read the articles that you post

You're right he was merely a "senior operative" at the time. Moreover, it appears many in the campaign think that there is nothing wrong with his behavior, that these corrupt dirty tricks are acceptable. That just shows that this sort of corruption is rife in the party, that the whole organization has lost its moral compass.

Here's a quote from an update on the issue:

Jason Lietaer, a Conservative campaign spokesman, denied Muttart had behaved improperly in forwarding the information and dubious photo to Sun Media

So a campaign spokesman thinks these sorts of dirty tricks are find and dandy. Moreover:

A Conservative party source said that while some thought getting rid of Muttart was a good thing, there are people inside the campaign who “are pissed about how he was treated.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...der-reportedly-furious-after-sun-debacle?bn=1

The whole organization is riddled with this sort of corruption.

 

[sailorsix]

And somehow when it is the Reform party behaving as Liberals it just doesn't matter to the right wingnuts.

If Harper came out as said bum fucking 5 year boys was now the right way to teach kids to behave then every Reform Conservative would stand up and say "Right On" Stevie.

 

[clubber]

Imagine that something wrong printed in the Sun. They should really have done a better job of checking the story out. It is really a pathetic paper. When I read it I was laughing. Imagine that Iggy responsible for the Iraq War strategy. He can't evey figure out how to beat Harper, or Layton in this election. Strategy does not seem Iggy's thing. They Sun should have to change it's name from newspaper to News Entertainment. You want to have a lie published, the Sun will do it just so long as it fits their right wing point of view. The Sun media is a huge corporation that wants it's corporate tax breaks. What do you think they will do with all the money. Lower the price of their paper for their readers? Give the carriers a raise? How about a raise to their work force?

 

[fuji]

clubber to be fair to the Sun they did NOT run the story. They DID do the fact checking, and they uncovered that the Conservatives were trying to plant false information about Ignatieff in the press. Instead of running the false information the Conservatives were planting they instead went with an editorial denouncing the Conservatives for planting false information.

 

[moviefan]

clubber to be fair to the Sun they did NOT run the story.

Well, yes and no.

The Sun didn`t run with the photo provided by Patrick Muttart. But Sun newspapers -- and Sun News TV -- did run with a story that Iggy played a prominent role in the planning of the Iraq invasion:

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/04/2...ning?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4daeed00c94e915a,0

That story, which never really passed the smell test, was debunked by Glen McGregor at the Ottawa Citizen:

http://talkpos.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/debunking-ignatieffs-iraq-invasion-planning/

-----

You don`t think it`s possible the Sun ran with that big editorial yesterday because the chain knew certain numbers were about to become public? Nah, it`s probably just a coincidence:

https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?333948-So-far-the-ratings-for-Sun-News-TV-are-pathetic

 

[clubber]

They did run a story and one of the half wit columnists did called the Iraq war Iggy's war. They said he worked on the invasion strategy. I remember reading it and laughing. Iggy and strategy? I will be voting liberal, just wish they had a leader like Layton, or even Elaine May. They have been doing all they can to make the liberals look bad. Their story on the CBC they left out some key information. Finding and perhaps even retouching pictures of Iggy to make him look worse than he is. They are nothing but a Conservative mouth piece. Part of a large corporation that wants the big corporate tax break. Fair to the Sun? When they are fair in their paper. They have more columnists than actual reporters. It seems as if they are run by Glen Beck.

 

[moviefan]

Canadian Press has a story this evening that Muttart had been providing free corporate advice to Sun Media:

http://www.brandonsun.com/national/...d-for-political-war-room-120912554.html?thx=y

This story gets more and more bizarre. And my theory that the Sun put this story out to deflect attention from the dismal ratings for Sun News TV looks even more plausible.

 

[Possum Trot]

News Flash Chreten lied about getting rid of the GST.

You really are scraping the bottom of the barrel if you think anyone in politics tells the truth all the time. Geez , grow up will you fuji, your guy is going down to the worst defeat in Liberal history and this is the best you can do?

 

[fuji]

PT there is quite a difference between breaking a campaign promise and telling outright lies about other people. If you can't see the difference then your ethics appear to be in the same toilet as Harper's.

 

[blackrock13]

News Flash Chreten lied about getting rid of the GST.

You really are scraping the bottom of the barrel if you think anyone in politics tells the truth all the time. Geez , grow up will you fuji, your guy is going down to the worst defeat in Liberal history and this is the best you can do?

there is a difference between not delivering on an election promise and releasing lies about a candidate. Even the courts have ruled that a candidate telling one thing on a campaign and doing another after being elected is alright, but there are libel and slander laws in this country. Please see that difference.