Thank you, Madam Chairman.
My name is Ian Brodie. I'm the Prime Minister's chief of staff. I've been Mr. Harper's chief of staff for nearly three years now. Before that, I was executive director of the Conservative Party of Canada, and prior to that, assistant chief of staff in the opposition leader's office. I am also on leave from the University of Western Ontario, where I am an associate professor of political science.
Earlier this year there were allegations in the House of Commons that I had leaked a memorandum from our consulate general in Chicago relating a meeting between one of our diplomats and an adviser to Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. These allegations were and remain completely false.
In response to the allegations, the Prime Minister tasked the Clerk of the Privy Council with investigating the unauthorized disclosure of the sensitive information in question. His investigation was given free and full access to everyone in the Prime Minister's Office, as well as all email records, telephone logs, fax logs, and any other information the investigators wished to review.
I myself met on two occasions with the investigators for a total of several hours and answered all of their questions. Eight other PMO staffers also met with the investigators and answered all of their questions. We cooperated with the investigation fully.
The report on the investigation, as you know, was made public on May 22 and contains a full report of the facts and conclusions it was able to draw. I draw the attention of committee members to page 9 of the report, where it concludes there is no evidence that I disclosed any confidential information in regard to this issue.
I can confirm to this committee that the Prime Minister was furious about the leak of the report from Chicago and remains furious about it to this day.