By Canadian Press

Vice-Admiral Norman’s lawyer blasts Justice Dept for ‘inaccurate’ statements

Mar 18, 2019 | 10:15 AM

OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman’s lawyer Marie Henein is calling out the federal Department of Justice for making what she says are “inaccurate” public statements about her client’s high-profile case.

Those statements came earlier this month in the form of several Twitter posts and public fact-sheets in which the department said it wanted to “clarify” Henein’s requests for records held by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other top officials.

They appeared aimed at rebutting questions Henein has raised about the amount of time it has taken for the government to provide those records as well as thousands of other documents related to Norman’s trial on a breach-of-trust charge.

The tweets have since been deleted and Henein told the court during a pre-trial hearing this morning that the department amended the fact sheets after complaints from her office, but that they were nonetheless of concern.

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The court also heard that a hearing that was scheduled for next week in which Henein was expected to argue that the case against Norman be tossed will be delayed because she still doesn’t have the requested documents.

Norman previously served as the military’s second-in-command and was charged last year with breach of trust for allegedly leaking government secrets. He has denied any wrongdoing and his actual trial is scheduled to start in August.

The Canadian Press