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But the government brought in the RCMP to hunt down the source of the alleged leak. Norman, once the second highest ranking officer in the Canadian military, was charged last year with one count of breach of trust.

Norman had denied any wrongdoing.

Leslie, a retired lieutenant general who served in the Liberal government as parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, did not respond to a request for comment. Norman’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.

Leslie has announced he will not be running for re-election.

He represents the riding in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans where Norman resides and the two men have worked together while in the Canadian Forces.

Sources told CTV News, which broke the original story on Friday, that Leslie informed the Prime Minister’s Office more than a year ago that he would testify on behalf of Norman.

Postmedia has confirmed through its own sources that Leslie has made the offer to testify.

But it is unclear in what capacity Leslie would testify or whether he will even be required to testify.

Norman’s lawyers are expected to bring forward an abuse-of-process motion, likely to be argued sometime in May. That motion is expected to level allegations of political interference and obstruction of subpoena requests for documents as reasons for the case to be dismissed before it gets to trial.