CBC: O'Toole says he considered expelling a Conservative senator over foreign influence concerns

National Post: 'Not informed': Mélanie Joly tells inquiry she was kept in the dark for years on foreign interference

Earlier this week, current national security and intelligence adviser Nathalie Drouin said she had seen no evidence there are “traitors” in Parliament and that some of the conclusions in the NSICOP report made her “very uncomfortable.”

Mendicino said he believes there is a need to “clear the air” about NSICOP’s findings.

“I am very worried that the entire conversation around foreign interference and parliamentarians is being transformed into a kangaroo court with very little regard for the process of understanding how we assess intelligence,” he told the inquiry.

“I think it is extremely important that we heed the opinion and the evidence that has been given to this commission, from Ms. Drouin, from CSIS, around the fact that… this NSICOP report has gone further than where they are at in the assessment of the intelligence,” he added.

CBC: Joly says she wasn't briefed on foreign interference for over a year

Under questioning by Sujit Choudhry, lawyer for NDP MP Jenny Kwan, Mendicino agreed that officials need to clear the air on foreign interference and parliamentarians.

"I am very worried that the entire conversation around foreign interference and parliamentarians is being transformed into a kangaroo court, with very little regard for the process of understanding how we assess intelligence, especially given its rapidly evolving nature," he said.

CBC: Bill Blair's former chief of staff rejects claims of political motive behind 54-day warrant delay

 

Sujit Choudhry, lawyer for NDP MP Jenny Kwan, asked why Astravas had asked for a briefing on Vanweenan lists in connection with that warrant when she would have seen similar lists attached to previous warrant applications handled by Blair's office. 

"Did you recognize any of the names on that list?" asked Choudhry. "As you can appreciate, I can't discuss the contents of a Vanweenan list or a specific warrant in this forum and I have spoken with the commission about this," responded Astravas.

Despite Astravas being peppered with questions about the delay in arranging for Blair to be briefed and to sign the warrant, by the end of her testimony, it still wasn't clear why it took so long. Two other warrants that were applied for during that time period were signed with delays of only a few days and Blair had a number of secure conversations with the director of CSIS during that period.

Astravas revealed that Blair was aware of the foreign interference investigation that triggered the warrant before CSIS submitted the application.