Yesterday, when reams of documents built a case that a bunch of people in the Prime Minister’s Office were aware of ex-chief of staff Nigel Wright’s $90,000 payment to Sen. Mike Duffy, Harper remained defiant in the House. Of course. The PM’s remaining defence is starkly personal: he had no idea what was happening between Wright and Duffy. The whole world might’ve known, but he only found out on May 15—and that’s when he took action.

Today, don’t expect NDP Leader Tom Mulcair to believe a word of that defence. The House’s prosecutor-in-chief will take Harper to task and poke and prod, and hope the PM lets slip a little bit of contrition—or culpability, or something that advances this script. The showdown continues and, barring some admission of guilt in some dark corner of Ottawa, shows no sign of letting up. Ed. Note: Harper’s not in the House today, so Parliamentary Secretary Paul Calandra will field questions.

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HOT SEAT The RCMP’s latest Wright-Duffy docs have the PM playing defence, though his characteristic style is to counterattack aggressively after a few rounds of questions. Look at him to go after Justin Trudeau on pot and Tom Mulcair on past bribe offers. Edit: The PM’s not in the House, so replace “the PM” with “Parliamentary Secretary Paul Calandra,” who takes his boss’s place in the hot seat. Same strategy, probably.

HOT TOPICS Wright-Duffy affair Harper on Ford

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