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However, on Thursday, Wernick’s office released copies of eight expletive-filled, sometimes barely coherent messages.

“Your garbage pal. If you don’t want to be calked name like treason and traitor then don’t indulge in it then, you (expletive) idiot goofs!” said one.

“You should be ashamed of yourself for the comments about assinations! Arrogant pos! Get a real job you (expletive) deadbeat,” said another.

Wernick prefaced his first appearance before the committee with surprise remarks about the deteriorating state of political discourse in Canada.

“I worry about the rising tide of incitements to violence when people use terms like treason and traitor in open discourse,” he said. “Those are words that lead to assassination. I’m worried that somebody is going to be shot in this country this year during the political campaign.”

Wernick went on to say he’s also worried about “the reputations of honourable people who have served their country being besmirched and dragged through the market square, I worry about the trolling from the vomitorium of social media entering the open media arena.”

Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

Wernick’s performance before the committee, along with his stout defence of the integrity of staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, earned him the scorn of opposition MPs, who accused him of being partisan and demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fire him. In the House of Commons last week, NDP MP Charlie Angus referred to Wernick as Trudeau’s “personal goon.”

The social media vomitorium, as Wernick called it, has been less restrained.

“Michael, you are dirty. Your manipulation of the fallout on the SNC-Lavalin criminal bribery scandal does not look good on you,” said one message he received.

“You’re a loser. And a liar. You’ll amount to an absolute nobody in Canadian history. A spineless puppet,” said another.

“YOU SHOULD BE FIRED. A disgrace to Canada … Overpaid, bureaucratic LIBERAL BOZO … protecting liberal LIars!!!” opined yet another.