the Defense
Gets Busy
Defending

Between Spring springing and the BC Rail trial either starting or just having pre-trial activities so often that it seems like one, I'm still working on my post about last week. After three years of living like a mushroom, in the dark being fed......well you know what mushrooms are fed; suddenly there are so many published reports that just finding and reading them all takes significant time. Don't think I'm complaining, the lack of media attention to the BC Rail Trial/Ledge Raids issue was the primary reason the House of Infamy ever came into existence.

The big chore now, especially with our local excuse for media, dominated by Canned West/Glowball, is to try to see the truth through the spin. That's why the updated article in the Globe and Mail this afternoon is interesting if only because the view and spin from the East is different than the view from here in the belly of the BC Lieberal Agenda. In Defence in BC Rail case to seek cabinet documents, Mark Hume details how:

The Supreme Court of British Columbia was given notice yesterday that an application for government documents will be coming within days.

Outside court, Michael Bolton, one of several lawyers for three former government employees, said the defence doesn't believe the RCMP got all the relevant material when it searched the legislature offices of Dave Basi and Bobby Virk......

Then Mr. Bolton gets closer to the nub of the underlying issues in this case.

The privatization of BC Rail is at the heart of the RCMP investigation that led to charges of fraud, accepting bribes and money laundering against Dave Basi, Mr. Virk and Aneal Basi.

Dave Basi and Mr. Virk are accused of leaking confidential government information about the BC Rail process in return for bribes, and Aneal Basi, who was a low-level information officer, is alleged to have laundered the payments.

The defence contends, however, that Dave Basi and Mr. Virk were “political operatives” who at all times were following government directions.

The defence argues that the RCMP “tailored and targeted” their investigation to focus on the minor figures to leave politicians out of the case.

“It's been one of our frequent themes. . .that clearly there are the overtones and undertones of very significant political involvement in this case,” said Mr. Bolton.

thanks to verso for the heads up on Globe and Mail article cited above


Our man who has been on the case more than pretty well any genuine BC journalist, Bill Tieleman, points out that the Kevin McCullough, lawyer for Bob Virk, advanced eerily similar charges in his posting in today's Tyee.

David Basi and Bob Virk were following government and party orders throughout this period, McCullough said, in a wide variety of highly political operations.

To argue, therefore, as the Crown is, that Basi and Virk were acting on their own in the breach of trust situation simply does not make sense, McCullough inferred.

"This government was using Mr. Basi every which way and the RCMP knew it and they undertook no investigation," McCullough argued, cleverly using the actual title the RCMP gave to their case -- Operation Everywhichway. "There was an intention to put this investigation on the backs of Mr. Basi and Mr. Virk, and take it away from elected officials."

I would like to point out that Mr. Bolton and Mr. McCullough are obligated to work in the best interests of their individual clients, and no one is suggesting that it should be or is, otherwise. But to those who would suggest it is no surprise that the defense teams arguments seem to support each other, I would like to point out that it is easy for everybody to keep their stories straight as long as they try to stick to the truth. I would like to remind the Soup Nazi, the ferret and their ilk that them there lies really start getting in the way eventually, like if you can't make this go away and especially if some folks start being concerned with saving their own posteriors.

Before I go I would like to say that it sure seems to me that for the last few days the defense lawyers have been saying the same kinda things that I've been thinking for the last three years.