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VICTORIA — Embattled Speaker of the Legislature Darryl Plecas has sought to provide himself legal cover at the centre of a worsening scandal, amid allegations he asked a friend to conduct a secret investigation into two senior officials, spear-headed the suspension of the men and then tried to install his friend into one of their vacant positions.

Plecas’s office announced Thursday that former attorney general Wally Oppal had been retained to provide legal advice in a new special assistant role.

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It’s unknown what Oppal will actually do or how much he will be paid because Plecas refused, for a third day, to take any questions on any matters.

The move capped another dramatic day at the legislature, in which Plecas clashed with reporters and promised to explain himself at a 2 p.m. press conference only to take off down a legislature hallway and send an assistant out to read a statement.

The assistant, Alan Mullen, is himself at the centre of the scandal.