Schreiber drops bomb on Mulroney in Commons Committee

Karlheinz Schreiber testified under oath at a parliamentary committee today that he was told by Brian Mulroney's former chief of staff to funnel proceeds of the Airbus sale into a Swiss bank account destined for the former prime minister.
The accusation is the first time Schreiber has explicitly said the former prime minister may have benefited from the Air Canada purchase Airbus jetliners.
Schreiber told a Commons committee that Fred Doucet asked him to open an account in the name of Mulroney's lawyer in 1992 or 1993.
Mulroney was still the prime minister when Schreiber alleges the discussion occurred.
Schreiber said the request astounded him.
``What the hell has Mulroney to do with Airbus?'' Schreiber recalled asking Doucet, who was working as a lobbyist by then.
Doucet's answer: ``Are you naive?''
He said the conversation with Doucet took place in the Ottawa offices of Government Consultants International _ a lobbying firm stocked with staffers who were well-connected to Mulroney.
``Why would Mulroney get money for Airbus? For what?'' Schreiber said he asked Doucet.
``And he said, `Airbus.' ''
Within hours of the conversation, a rattled Schreiber said he contacted Frank Moores, another Mulroney confidant who was one of the principal owners of the lobbying firm, about the payments destined for Mulroney.
Moores told him to forget about the conversation, Schreiber testified. Others at GCI also urged him to ignore the reasons behind the request for the transfer to a Swiss bank account.
``They told me I should stay away from this. It is in their hands and they look after Brian Mulroney.'' Questions have long swirled around the 1988 purchase of 34 Airbus jets by then-Crown owned Air Canada.
Mulroney sued the Liberal government under Jean Chretien which was forced to apologize and pay Mulroney a $2.1-million settlement to cover his legal and professional fees.
Mulroney has subsequently admitted to taking $300,000 in cash from Schreiber in three separate hotel room meetings in the early 1990s. The ex-prime minister has never explained why he took the payments in cash, nor when he paid taxes on the payments.