Back on May 15, 2013, the day before Mayor Rob Ford was thrust into an international crack cocaine scandal, his then-spokesperson was irritated with reporters for fixating on trivial news.

George Christopoulos had been fielding calls all day about his boss’s latest gaffe: putting promotional Ford fridge magnets on cars parked outside a community council meeting in Etobicoke.

“I feel like responding — but I won’t — ‘if this is the only story you have to cover today, it’s a sad day for journalism at city hall,” he wrote to then-chief-of-staff Mark Towhey in an email.

Christopoulos would be dealing with an actual crisis by the next morning.

At 11:15 a.m., CNN reporter Paula Newton sent him a short message: “Need to talk to you. Where can I reach u?”

On the phone, Newton asked Christopoulos if he had heard anything about a video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine. It was a conversation that would result in one of the largest political scandals in Canadian history breaking that night. At 7:30 p.m., another email landed in Christopoulos’s inbox: “URGENT REPORTER’S INQUIRY FROM GAWKER MEDIA.”

These messages were included among thousands of internal Ford administration documents released to the Star through a freedom of information request.

The Star asked for the records more than seven months ago. Ford’s office waited months before releasing them to city officials, who then required weeks to read them and make redactions. The Star obtained emails from former Ford staff members Christopoulos, Towhey, David Price and Isaac Ransom — none of whom still work for the mayor.

The documents provide a window into the chaos behind closed doors in an administration struggling for survival.

Christopoulos never wrote the CNN reporter back, but they did speak by phone. The network had been contacted by Gawker editor John Cook after he viewed the same video two Star reporters were shown on May 3. Cook was hoping CNN might be interested in helping to purchase the footage of Ford apparently smoking crack and making homophobic and racially charged remarks, which was being shopped around by alleged drug dealers for $100,000. Rather than team up with Gawker, Newton phoned Ford’s office directly.

The Star later learned about this and contacted its broker source, who has since been identified as Mohamed Farah, to tell him Ford knew about the video. Farah got back in touch with Gawker. Feeling that the news was about to leak, Cook decided to publish what he had without the video.

Minutes before Gawker posted its article, Ford’s longtime lawyer Dennis Morris forwarded Towhey the email he had sent to Gawker editor Cook. Towhey looped Christopoulos in to his reply.

“Thanks, Mark. I was speaking with him tonight begging him to stay off talk radio. Exhausting. He was listening to John Downs (a Newstalk 1010 radio host),” Christopoulos wrote back. It’s not clear who Christopoulos was referring to because much of this exchange was censored. The subject line was “Re: Mayor Ford.”

The newly released emails reveal efforts by Ford’s staff to deal with his erratic behaviour and absenteeism.

On May 2, at 10:17 a.m., a city communications official, Nancy Aranha, sent Ford aides a speech for the mayor to deliver at an event related to the Pan Am Games. He was supposed to arrive at 11:25 a.m. But at 10:46 a.m., Ford aide Carley McNeil responded that Ford would not be coming after all.

“I apologize, but their (sic) was a miscommunication and the Mayor will not be attending today. Again I apologize,” McNeil wrote.

The next day, then-director of operations David Price emailed Towhey at 10:32 a.m. to say Ford’s attendance at an 11 a.m. “councillors briefing” was “in doubt.”

“Mobile Phone is ‘off’ + No Answer on home #,” Price wrote. A junior staffer, Nico Fidani, was dispatched to Ford’s house to investigate.

The team monitored Twitter, sometimes with a hint of concern. Just after midnight on May 19, then-communications aide Isaac Ransom sent Towhey and Christopoulos a tweet that alleged Ford was “stormin’ the dancefloor” at the bar Sex Laser. “I’m calling BS,” Christopoulos wrote. Ransom responded: “Probably right.”

Ford vehemently denied in May that he smoked crack and that the video existed. He admitted in November that he has “tried” the drug, and Police Chief Bill Blair confirmed the existence of the video.

Ford was fired as the football coach at Don Bosco on May 22. According to police documents whose contents have not been proven in court, Ford was distraught, and he wanted aides to help him quickly organize a party for the players. Towhey refused.

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“Do not answer calls from the mayor tonight,” Towhey wrote in an email, titled “Direct order,” to other staffers. “Take the night off. Will explain in the AM.” Ford fired him the next day.

Two weeks before the scandal, Ford’s team was already dealing with crack problems — related to Etobicoke’s West Deane Park. A resident had asked for the administration’s help in keeping crack smokers away.

“Undesirables taking over the park,” Price wrote to a city official. The resident, he said, wanted the city to move a gate “so that the alleged criminal elements cannot access the park late at night which causes noise and other related concerns such as thuggish behaviour and smoking crack cocaine in full view of families and kids."

“Any suggestions that your team can make to deter these activities is much appreciated,” he concluded.