'Giggling' reporters blamed for Mulroney tears

[phishtaper]

'Giggling' reporters blamed for Mulroney tears

Former PM becomes emotional describing effect of accusatory 1995 RCMP letter on family

May 13, 2009 02:20 PM

Les Whittington

Richard J. Brennan

Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–In a bizarre twist at the Mulroney-Schreiber hearing, an aide to Brian Mulroney accused reporters of causing the former prime minister to cry by laughing as he testified about the hardships of being named a suspect in the Airbus affair.

Robin Sears accused two veteran reporters of giggling like "f--king schoolchildren" and issued a vague threat, saying, "If I were you, I wouldn't continue." No reporters had been seen laughing during Mulroney's testimony, however.

The Mulroney team also sent out a press release, quoting him as saying: "They were carrying on like a pair of school children. It just got to me."

Mulroney broke down in tears on the witness stand as he recalled the personal devastation he suffered when news broke in 1995 that the RCMP considered him a suspect in the Airbus fraud investigation.

"All of a sudden, out of the blue, I'm a criminal," he said at the public inquiry into his dealings with German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

"This had serious consequences and it was extremely difficult" for his family, the former prime minister said, capping a morning of often emotional testimony.

Mulroney said the letter of request from the Mounties to Swiss authorities seeking information from secret bank accounts accused him of being a "criminal" from the time he was sworn in as prime minister in September 1984 until he left office in June 1993.

"I am an honest man and my family is honest and now all of a sudden the world is being told without any proof" that he could face criminal charges, Mulroney recalled.

Even though, he was cautioned by his own lawyer and the inquiry commissioner that he didn't have to expand on how the Airbus accusations affected him and his family, Mulroney continued.

"You'd think that this kind of thing would be limited to the parents ...Nicholas was 10 years and he would...," said Mulroney, trailing off as he began weeping.

The so-called Airbus affair looms in the background of the current inquiry. Mulroney has often complained that he has been unfairly pilloried by the media and federal investigators over the years despite the fact that an RCMP investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with the $1.8 billion sale of Airbus aircraft to Air Canada in 1988.

Mulroney said this explains why he tried to keep his dealings with Schreiber secret for years.

In 1997, Mulroney was awarded a $2.1 million settlement after he took Ottawa to court for defamation as a result of suggestions by federal government officials that he was a subject in the Airbus probe.

Earlier, Mulroney recounted how he accepted thousands of dollars in cash from Schreiber without hesitation in Montreal and New York and then stashed the money away.

In both cases—in a Montreal coffee shop in 1993 and in a New York hotel room in 1994—Schreiber handed over legal-sized envelopes filled with $75,000 in thousand dollar bills.

The former prime minister told the public inquiry that he put the cash from Montreal in his safe at home and stashed the money accepted in New York in a bank safety-deposit box in Manhattan.

The inquiry headed by Justice Jeffrey Oliphant is delving into questions about the interaction of the two men that led Schreiber to pay Mulroney $300,000 (the former prime minister maintains it was $225,000) for lobbying services after he left 24 Sussex Ave.

Yesterday, Mulroney recalled receiving the first $75,000 from the businessman at Mirabel airport. That money was also placed in Mulroney's home safe.

Mulroney has said at an earlier hearing in the House of Commons that he did not report the money for tax purposes until several years later.

This morning, Mulroney amplified his explanation of why he received the money. He said he took it upon himself to use his international contacts to explore the possibility of worldwide sales of light armoured military vehicles made by German-based Thyssen AG.

Schreiber was a lobbyist for Thyssen and received $6.5 million when the Mulroney government agreed in principle to manufacture the vehicles in Canada. But the project never went ahead.

In today's testimony, Mulroney provided further detail about his efforts to promote Thyssen. He said he had come up with the idea of making the Thyssen armoured car the standard vehicle for United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Mulroney testified that he raised this idea with former United States secretary of defence Caspar Weinberger, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin and former French president Francois Mitterrand.

Anticipating questions about the fact that the three men are now dead, and thus unable to corroborate the discussions, Mulroney remarked, "We all get old and someday we die."

Referring to his own illness several years ago, Mulroney told the inquiry that, had he died, "I wouldn't be here and you wouldn't have any problems."

Mulroney also said he discussed the idea of getting the UN to buy Thyssen vehicles with a senior Chinese government official.

The former prime minister said he kept Schreiber aware of his efforts on behalf of Thyssen. Schreiber has said that, after Mulroney left office, he retained him to promote Thyssen's interests with the Conservative government of Kim Campbell.

Yesterday, Mulroney testified that he should never have accepted cash from Schreiber. Instead, he should have asked for a cheque, he testified. But he maintained that his business relations with Schreiber had always been legal.

The inquiry's timetable has been thrown into doubt by Schreiber's sudden illness. Schreiber is in a hospital in Ottawa recovering from gall bladder surgery yesterday. Schreiber has already given testimony at the public inquest but he is expected to be called back for further questioning after Mulroney completes his testimony later this week.

Richard Wolson, the inquiry's head counsel, told Oliphant that the timing of another appearance by Schreiber would depend on his recovery.

Schreiber faces deportation to Germany to face charges of fraud, tax evasion and bribery.

brilliant PR response ... they laughed at him and made him cry. interestingly enough, the story has now been updated/replaced.

[Kanada Kev]

Cry me a river Brian

[boiler]

Mulroney figures he should have gotten a cheque, rather than an envelope bursting with cash, [color:purple]then everything would have been ok and less suspicious I guess.

The former prime minister told the public inquiry that he put the cash from Montreal in his safe at home and stashed the money accepted in New York in a bank safety-deposit box in Manhattan.

I like this one. What a slippery fucker. Just think, if he had been convicted, us Canadians might not of had to put up with that annoying kid of his.