'NAFTAgate' began with offhand remark from Harper's chief of staff
NAFTAgate...
It seems that Hillary was doing the wink wink herself.
I was on my way home from work tonight and heard on my local radio station the real story about this and then read this in my online local newspaper.
More after...
OTTAWA - If the prime minister is seeking the first link in the chain of events that has rocked the U.S. presidential race, he need look no further than his chief of staff, Ian Brodie, The Canadian Press has learned.
A candid comment to journalists from CTV News by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most senior political staffer during the hurly-burly of a budget lock-up provided the initial spark in what the American media are now calling NAFTAgate.
Harper announced Wednesday that he has asked an internal security team to begin finding the source of a document leak that he characterized as being "blatantly unfair" to Senator Barack Obama.
What is now a swirling Canada-U.S. controversy began on Feb. 26, when the usually circumspect Brodie was milling among droves of Canadian media on budget day in the stately old building that once housed Ottawa's train station.
Reporters were locked up there all day, examining the federal budget until they were allowed to leave once it was tabled in the House of Commons at 4 p.m.
Since the budget contained little in the way of headline-grabbing surprises, some were left with enough free time to gather around a large-screen TV to watch the latest hockey news on NHL trade deadline day.
Brodie wandered over to speak to Finance Department officials and chatted amiably with journalists - who appreciated this rare moment of direct access to the top official in Harper's notoriously tight-lipped government.
The former university professor found himself in a room with CTV employees where he was quickly surrounded by a gaggle of reporters while other journalists were within earshot of other colleagues.
At the end of an extended conversation, Brodie was asked about remarks aimed by the Democratic candidates at Ohio's anti-NAFTA voters that carried serious economic implications for Canada.
Since 75 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S., Obama and Clinton's musings about reopening the North American free-trade pact had caused some concern.
Brodie downplayed those concerns.
"Quite a few people heard it," said one source in the room.
But here is the most interesting part
"He said someone from (Hillary) Clinton's campaign is telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt. . . That someone called us and told us not to worry."
Government officials did not deny the conversation took place.
Go to the link and read the rest.
So why is CNN still hashing the same tired story about Senator Obama?
This just makes me sick!!!