OTTAWA — Mike Duffy's defence lawyer is using the cross-examination of a Senate official to make the case that his office contracts and payments were handed out within the rules.
The court has been told that the suspended senator awarded contracts to a friend, who in turn made payments to other service providers including a makeup artist and an office volunteer.
Duffy faces 31 charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, including a set that involve the contracts set up through the company of Ottawa friend Gerald Donohue.
Donohue was paid to do research and consulting work, but his company sent cheques to others, including a payment made to an office volunteer.
Defence lawyer Donald Bayne took Senate human resources officer Sonia Makhlouf through upper chamber rules that define what constitutes a senator's staff — language that includes the word volunteer.
Makhlouf agreed with Bayne that the Senate's administrative rules give senators broad discretion over the hiring of staff and the awarding of contracts.
