TORONTO

The spouse of a senior advisor in the office of former premier Dalton McGuinty told investigators he was paid $10,000 to wipe the computers of political staff, an OPP search warrant says.

According to the newly opened documents, Peter Faist said the cost was covered by the Liberal Caucus which is funded by taxpayers.

“Mr. Faist was under the impression that Cabinet Office was aware of his presence and the work requested of him,” the warrant says.

Faist told investigators that his spouse, Laura Miller, asked him to wipe “personal data” off about 20 computers used by senior staff in the premier’s office, the warrant says.

In a production order unsealed by the court Thursday, Det.-Const. Andre Duval alleges that there are reasonable grounds to believe that David Livingston, McGuinty’s former chief of staff, committed the criminal offence of breach of trust by obtaining administrative access for Faist to government-owned computers just prior to the arrival of Premier Kathleen Wynne in 2013.

At the time, the premier’s office had been ordered by a government committee to turn over all documents that would shed light on the Liberals’ decision to axe two gas plants at an estimated loss to Ontarians of up to $1.1 billion.

OPP are investigating allegations that official records were unlawfully destroyed to cover up the government’s tracks.

An August 2012 e-mail to Miller and other staff from Livingston, disclosed in the warrant documents, passes on some information on how to ensure that e-mail records are completely deleted.

The note goes on to describe how “double deleted” e-mails are gone and cannot be retrieved.

“Having said all this, nothing is more confidential than talking rather than writing!” Livingston’s e-mail says. “I hope this is clear and helpful.”

Lawyers for Livingston, as well as for Faist and Miller, have all stated previously that their clients have done nothing wrong.

And all three did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Livingston’s lawyer did say in the new documents that the former chief of staff received no training or guidelines on keeping records, would have followed them had he been given them and could legitimately delete some e-mails under the existing rules.

The information was all contained in a search warrant sought by OPP investigators last month to obtain e-mail records for Miller and Livingston at a Toronto storage facility, and the allegations have not been proven in court.

Zita Astravas, a spokesperson for Premier Kathleen Wynne, said the documents confirm that the investigation relates solely to allegations against the former premier’s Chief of Staff.

“The political staff interviewed by the OPP in the course of this investigation should be lauded. They have lived up not just to the government’s commitment to openness and co-operation in this matter, but to their responsibility as citizens,” Astravas said.

PC MPP Steve Clark said the Tories have been asking that these Liberal staffers appear before the government committee investigating the gas plant scandal only to be blocked by the current premier.

“It just proves to me that Kathleen Wynne’s government is about as transparent as a brick wall,” Clark said.

In a statement, NDP MPP Gilles Bisson said the OPP documents confirm that the Liberals wiped out hard drives with military grade software, paid $10,000 to do it and then lied about it.