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OTTAWA — Sen. Mike Duffy insisted there should be an open, public inquiry into his expenses as controversy swirled Thursday around how impartial a fresh review of his spending is likely to be.

The former Conservative senator’s call came as news emerged that the RCMP asked last week for documents related to his file, and as the chairman of the Senate’s internal economy committee admitted he had been in contact with the prime minister’s chief of staff and other PMO officials about Duffy during the period when the committee was still overseeing an initial audit of Duffy’s expenses.

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However, in comments later echoed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Sen. David Tkachuk insisted there had been no political interference in Duffy’s audit.

The scandal centres on a repayment of $90,000 Duffy made for inappropriate living expense claims as he was being audited by Deloitte at the Senate’s request. It eventually emerged that the prime minister’s former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, had cut Duffy a cheque from Wright’s personal funds for that amount. Wright resigned on the weekend over the controversy.