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Top bureaucrat wrote 60-page memo to Trudeau about Mark Norman case, lawyer says

Mar 28, 2019 | 10:38 AM

OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman’s lawyer says she wants to see a secret 60-page memo the federal government’s top bureaucrat penned for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about her client’s case.

Marie Henein revealed the existence of the memo from Michael Wernick, clerk of the Privy Council, in court this morning as Norman’s breach-of-trust case returned for another day of pre-trial hearings.

Henein says the government is refusing to disclose the contents of that memo and two others from the Privy Council Office’s top lawyer to Wernick because of solicitor-client privilege.

Henein, who has accused the Liberals of interfering in Norman’s case, says the documents are key to her plan to argue for why the breach-of-trust charge against her client should be thrown out.

Justice Heather Perkins-McVey will set a date in mid-April for Henein and the government to argue over whether the contents of the memos should be disclosed.

Norman, who served as the military’s second-in-command, was charged last year for allegedly leaking government secrets.

He has denied any wrongdoing and his trial is currently scheduled to start in August.

The Canadian Press

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