OTTAWA—Don Meredith’s lawyer says he no longer represents the embattled senator, one day after arguing on TV that the Pentecostal pastor is the victim of a “lynch mob mentality” and wouldn’t be treated so harshly if he were part of an “old white boys club.”

Selwyn Pieters wrote on Twitter on Monday evening that Meredith’s move to hire a new lawyer was made with his “blessing,” though it is unclear whether he was fired or quit.

He didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment from the Star on Monday.

“That was one of the shortest and most hectic retainer (sic) I have ever taken on in my legal career. — feeling thankful,” Pieters tweeted.

Senators of varying political stripes have called for Meredith’s resignation after an ethics report concluded that he used his position of power to lure a teenage girl into a sexual relationship.

He is also being investigated by the Senate ethics officer over separate allegations of workplace harassment.

After avoiding the media for several days, Meredith — who is now on sick leave from his job in the Senate — apologized in an interview with the Canadian Press last week, but said that he will not resign. He also said “racism has played a role” in the sex scandal, which was first reported by the Star in 2015.

On Sunday, Pieters appeared on CTV to speak about his client’s case. “There’s a lynch mob mentality that’s going on right now that’s not helpful to anyone,” Pieters told the broadcaster.

In an earlier interview with CTV, Pieters said that “in some cultures people marry at 12. You have very old men marrying people at 12. So I don’t buy this thing about power and about protecting and all that sort of stuff,” he said.

Pieters later released a statement that said he understands there is a power imbalance when a man has a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old girl. He added: “What is important here is that Senator Meredith’s conduct, short of a resignation, has to be adjudicated by his peers in the Senate.”

The teenager involved with Meredith was between 16 and 18 years old during the affair, according to the ethics report. Last year, Ottawa police concluded an investigation without laying charges. The legal age of consent in Canada is 16, and goes up to 18 in situations where there is a relationship of authority, trust or dependency.

Meredith’s office did not respond to interview requests from the Star on Monday.

The Star tried to reach Meredith, 52, at his Richmond Hill home, where there was no answer to repeated phone calls and knocks at the door.

A woman at the GTA Faith Alliance Learning Centre in Vaughan, where Meredith’s wife, Michelle, is listed as the director of education, refused to give her name and threatened to call the police when two Star reporters attempted to ask questions about the senator’s whereabouts.

Responding to the assertions by Meredith and his lawyer about the role of racism in the calls for Meredith to resign, Conservative Sen. Bob Runciman said the allegation detracts from “legitimate complaints about discrimination” and dismissed the argument as “phoney.”

Independent Sen. André Pratte also disagreed with the notion that Meredith has been treated unfairly.

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“The ethics officer’s report has clearly shown that he has used his office, his position, to lure this young lady into an inappropriate sexual relationship,” he said. “And that’s it. Whether he’s black or white or Asian or whatever has nothing to do with it.”

More concerning to Runciman and Pratte was the possibility that Meredith’s sick leave could delay his appearance before the Senate ethics committee, which is slated to meet Wednesday for the first time since the damning report was released.

“This whole thing, if it goes on for too long, will hurt the institution,” said Pratte.

“The way that we deal with this will be an important signal that we send to Canadians that we are taking (the Senate) in the right direction.”

Any sanctions that the Senate can impose on Meredith — including the possibility of expelling him from the institution — will stem from the committee’s recommendations. But according to Senate rules — Section 49 (2) of the chamber’s ethics code— committees that consider the results of an investigation report must give senators in question an opportunity to be heard.

That means that if Meredith is too sick to attend, any move to punish or expel him could have to wait.

Three of the five members of the Senate ethics committee declined to comment to the Star on Monday, while two did not respond to interview requests.

“I think he’s going to hang on by the fingernails, but I think his prospects are not all that bright,” said Runciman.

“He’s going to explore all of the options that might be available to retain his seat,” he added. “It’s unfortunate, in terms of the ongoing hit to the Senate’s reputation.”

Since the ethics report reignited Meredith’s sex scandal, many senators and observers have alluded to past troubles with senators’ expenses and said that the Meredith scandal is bringing a cloud back to the institution.

There was also an outcry after Sen. Lynn Beyak gave a speech in the Red Chamber this month that highlighted what she characterized as an overlooked “abundance of good” in Canada’s widely maligned residential school system.

On Monday, Meredith’s situation came up as MPs from Parliament’s status of women committee released a report recommending ways to stop gender-based violence, sexual harassment and rape culture in Canada.

“This behaviour is common, it’s across all classes, it’s everywhere in our country and we need to take steps to eliminate it,” said Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, the committee chair.

“There’s certainly been a huge outcry and a call for (Meredith’s) resignation and a lot of discussion about this … I think we have to see where that falls,” she said.