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She moves quickly into remarkably blunt criticism of the Trudeau government

Since a “minister must always be prepared to defend other ministers publicly, and must speak in support of the government and its policies. … (it) is untenable for me to continue to serve as a cabinet minister,” she says near the top, which is damning enough on its own. But she goes in for the kill with her very next paragraph.

“Unfortunately, the evidence of efforts by politicians and/or officials to pressure the former attorney general … and the evidence as to the content of those efforts have raised serious concerns for me,” Philpott wrote. She adds later, “It is a fundamental doctrine of the rule of law that our attorney general should not be subjected to political pressure or interference regarding the exercise of her prosecutorial discretion in criminal cases. Sadly, I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter and in how it has responded to the issues raised.”

Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/CP

That’s …. that’s remarkable. I mean, have fun spinning that one, Liberal partisans.

Reading Philpott’s statement is especially interesting when considered against a similar one Jody Wilson-Raybould, the woman at the heart of this controversy, posted in January. When Wilson-Raybould was shuffled from the Justice portfolio to Veterans Affairs, and out of the attorney’s general role at the same time, she released a long public statement, expressing pride in her accomplishments and also stressing that she had always sought to uphold the rule of law. The statement was immediately and widely remarked upon because it was unusual for two reasons: first, such statements are rare after a cabinet shuffle, period, and Wilson-Raybould was sending a message that Canadians, absent the vital context of the alleged interference she endured, couldn’t quite grasp.