Surprising no one, Conservative MP Candice Bergen disagreed Thursday with Justice Charles Vaillancourt’s assessment of former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s PMO — that it could order senior senators around as if they were “pawns on a chess board” — and is defending her former boss.

In his 308-page ruling acquitting Senator Mike Duffy all 31 counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery, Vaillancourt described how the Prime Minister’s Office handled the “repay scenario” involving Duffy’s disputed expenses. Vaillancourt used such words as “ruthless” and “covert” to describe how the office operated in deceiving the public.

“That was the judge’s opinion, I would disagree with that opinion. It was not my experience at all,” said Bergen, who was speaking with reporters in the House of Commons foyer after question period on Friday.

Bergen dismissed the judge’s language — “no, no” she said, shaking her head — when reporters repeated the words Vaillancourt used to describe Harper’s PMO.

“This narrative is one that has been going on well, well, well before the Duffy trial. It was the narrative because Mr. Harper wasn’t one, he wasn’t the selfie king at all, he wasn’t in GQ, he wasn’t talking with all of you folks as much as you probably would have wanted,” said Bergen.

“The narrative then was, he’s controlling, he’s a dictator, that was the narrative. It wasn’t true. He was a strong, strong leader. That narrative will probably keep going. It’s frustrating for people like me, who worked with him and worked under him, and it’s very frustrating but it’s the way it is,” she said.

Bergen denied the broadly held perception of the nine-year Harper government — that communications were micro-managed by the PMO.

“I was able to speak very, very clearly my own thoughts on my portfolio, so I would respectfully disagree with people including the judge who somehow thinks we were all told what to do at the PMO,” she said.

Bergen said Harper was a strong leader who knew where he wanted to lead the country, adding she “actually really liked working under that kind of leadership” and insisting she and her colleagues had the freedom to do their jobs.

When Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant was asked about whether the Conservative party should be taking responsibility for the way the PMO behaved, she muttered that she wouldn’t comment on “matters of the courts.”