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Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s staff tried to rewrite a Senate audit report to head off questions about whether Mike Duffy and other senators were constitutionally qualified to hold their seats, according to explosive new emails.

Tabled as evidence at Duffy’s criminal trial Wednesday, the emails show Harper’s staff were extremely sensitive to whether all senators were qualified to represent the province or territory from which they are appointed.

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They also show that Harper believed owning property in a province – not necessarily being resident there – was enough for someone to represent that province in the upper chamber. The assertion is sure to stoke fresh questions about whether Duffy and other Harper appointees were qualified to sit in the Senate in the first place.

Dating from February to May 2013, the hundreds of pages of emails were compiled by Harper’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright. He gathered them following questions about his decision to help Duffy pay back $90,000 in questionable expense claims. The emails ultimately ended up with the RCMP.