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I suppose Brison could be faulted for raising the issue with the attorney-general in the first place. Indeed, under Anne McLellan’s proposed new protocol, a minister will only be able to broach an issue involving an active prosecution if they have a legitimate reason to intervene, and they will have to use a formal process with a written paper trail to ensure no lines are crossed.

But the fact of the matter is, when Wilson-Raybould made it clear she’d made her decision, Brison dropped it. This is what any normal person with a well-tuned ethical compass would do.

That is what the prime minister should have done, too. But he didn’t.

He personally pressured the attorney-general on several occasions and dispatched an army of staff — including Michael Wernick, Gerald Butts, Katie Telford, Matthieu Bouchard, Elder Marques, and Ben Chin — to lobby, pressure, and end-run around her. At every turn, by her own account, she told them to stand down. At every turn, they ignored her and carried on. That is why the actions of the PMO are so alarming. It doesn’t appear there is anyone in the prime minister’s office who can put the reins on the boss, even when his demands cross the line.

If the prime minister is at all fearful that the RCMP might elevate the ethics commissioner’s findings to a criminal obstruction of justice charge, you’d never know it. The prime minister remains unapologetic and unfazed.

Although some lawyers maintain obstruction of justice charges may be warranted, I spoke to Canadian Civil Liberties Association executive director and former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant and he thinks it is unlikely. One of the main reasons is because a prosecutor would have to believe there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction. It would have to be shown that the prime minister knew what he was doing was wrong, and that he knew he was improperly furthering a private interest. So far, he continues to stick to his line that he was just trying to save jobs, and he says he won’t apologize for that.