Key developments:

  • Court heard that Duffy didn’t know he’d been signed up for polling research reports, but paid for them anyway through Gerald Donohue’s company
  • Duffy also paid a freelance journalist $500 for help with handling online trolls
  • Trial will resume Monday with new witnesses

'WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?'

Court heard from Elizabeth Brouse, a former vice-president of a research company that produced polling reports about Atlantic Canada. She testified that Duffy was surprised to find out that he had been signed up to receive those reports as a senator.

“What the heck is this?” he asked in an email when he received the welcoming letter, Brouse testified.

Brouse said that another senator had signed Duffy and several others up for the reports, and they were expected to split the cost. When Duffy didn’t pay his share of more than $1,000, Brouse said she contacted him, and he responded via email in an “angry” tone.

Since Duffy never accessed the research, Brouse said she decided that he shouldn’t have to pay.

But Duffy eventually paid anyway – with a cheque issued by one of Gerald Donohue’s companies.

INTERNET TROLLS

Mark Bourrie, a freelance journalist and author, said Duffy had asked for his help in dealing with online trolls after he was appointed to the Senate.

“We’re talking about mean, anonymous crap posted about this guy from the time he was appointed,” Bourrie testified.

Among the examples were comments on a YouTube video that accused Duffy of being drunk during an interview, Bourrie said.

Bourrie told the court that he never expected to be paid, but ended up receiving an unsolicited $500 cheque from Gerald Donohue’s Maple Ridge Media.

Another cheque made out to Bourrie’s wife, who’s a lawyer, was not cashed because she didn’t do any of the work, he testified.

Bourrie, who is now in law school, said he met Duffy in 1994. “I’m a short, fat balding guy from a small town, and so is he, so we kind of got along,” Bourrie said.

'HE LOOKS LIKE HELL'

Outside court, Bourrie told reporters that he thought Maple Ridge Media was Duffy’s own company and he didn’t realize the $500 came from the Senate.

Asked whether he would have cashed the cheque had it been clear that it was government money, Bourrie replied: “I really don’t know. I never thought about it.”

He also told reporters that he thinks the trial has taken a toll on Duffy.

“He looks like hell,” Bourrie said. “I really felt bad when I saw him today.”