TAKEDOWN, PART DEUX? — In his feisty 2019 memoir, Brampton mayor PATRICK BROWN aired a political career's worth of dirty laundry. Brown was a year removed from a dramatic fall from grace as Ontario Progressive Conservative leader. On Takedown's dust jacket, Brown promises a "story of betrayal, blackmail, and backroom politicking involving some of Canada's biggest political names." He named names, burning bridges with much of his former inner circle — the "seven horsemen," as he called them — including ANDREW BODDINGTON, ALYKHAN VELSHI and DAN ROBERTSON. The disgraced leader-turned-suburban mayor also went after MPP VIC FEDELI, the interim leader who later sued Brown for defamation (and eventually settled out of court). Seems he's reprising that take-no-prisoners approach, rhetoric and all. — Let the accusations fly: The day after the Conservative Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) booted Brown from the race, he took the offensive in an interview with CTV's EVAN SOLOMON billed as the "first extensive interview" since his disqualification. (CityNews reporter CYNTHIA MULLIGAN also claimed the first sclusi.) (CTV's explosive allegations sank Brown's run for Ontario premier. He sued the network. Both sides settled in March. Seems like it's all water under the bridge?) “Clearly the party establishment wanted Pierre. I’m shocked that they would take lengths this extraordinary to rob members of the party of a democratic election based on an anonymous complaint,” said Brown. “When I say this is politically corrupt, 150,000 Canadians, many for the first time, joined the Conservative Party, and their vote has been taken away.” In an interview with CBC's VASSY KAPELOS, Brown laid the blame at the feet of PIERRE POILIEVRE's supporters: "The party establishment was nervous that Pierre Poilievre wasn't going to win. And his supporters, Pierre Poilievre's supporters, are the ones behind this disqualification." Catch Kapelos on this morning's edition of the Frontburner pod. Brown complained of "phantom allegations" he couldn't properly defend. CPC member MADDISON LONG , a vocal Poilievre critic, called on the party to lay all the allegations out in the open for everybody to see. "Enough hearsay. The party needs to be transparent with our members and publicize the evidence." — Hired gun: The Brown campaign has enlisted the services of criminal lawyer MARIE HENEIN, per a pair of letters tweeted by Solomon. One of the letters, signed by Henein and ALEX SMITH, another partner at her firm, claims Brown will appeal his disqualification. Standing in the way of that effort is Sec. 3.1.10 of LEOC's rules for the campaign: "All decisions of the LEOC are final and are not subject to internal appeal or judicial review." In the second letter, Henein and Smith ask the party — and every member of LEOC — to preserve all communications related to Brown's disqualification. That includes, they emphasize, any correspondence with members of the Poilievre campaign. (Scroll down to SUMMERTIME READS for a timely pick by a Tory MP who happens to be a Poilievre supporter.) — Who is LEOC, anyway? In February, the Tories appointed the 21-member committee to oversee the seven-month race for the permanent party leadership. Postmedia reported that 17 of them voted on Brown's candidacy — with 11 voting to disqualify him. CTV's Solomon has the vote at 10-6. Either way, it was far from unanimous. This is who sits at that table: — Chair IAN BRODIE, the former executive director of the party and chief of staff to former PM STEPHEN HARPER — Vice-chair VALÉRIE ASSOULINE, VP of the party's National Council and municipal councilor in Dollard-Des-Ormeaux — PETE AARSSEN , an Ontario national councilor since 2021. — SHOLA AGBOOLA, a 2021 federal candidate in Manitoba's St. Boniface-St. Vital. — LEONA AGLUKKAQ, the former minister for both environment and health. — DAVID ANDERSON, a Saskatchewan MP from 2000 until 2019. — ROB BATHERSON, the Halifax-based president of the party's National Council. — DIANE CAREY, a consultant from New Brunswick. — JAMES DODDS, the chair of the Conservative Fund Canada. — STEVEN DOLLANSKY, an Alberta lawyer. — RICK EKSTEIN, a long-time party activist in Ontario. — DEBORAH GREY, the first-ever Reform MP. — BRUCE HALLSOR, a B.C. lawyer. — JUDY MANNING, a Newfoundland and Labrador lawyer. — DARRELL PASLOSKI, a former Yukon premier and 2008 Conservative candidate. — SYLVIA POIRIER, a P.E.I.-based national councilor from 2013 until 2021. — JUDITH SEIDMAN, a Tory senator since 2009. — NELLY SHIN, a B.C. Tory MP from 2019 until 2021. — TIM SYER, a Northwest Territories lawyer. — CLAUDE THIBAULT, a Quebec-based director of the Conservative Fund Canada. — SHELBY KRAMP-NEUMAN, Tory MP for Hastings–Lennox and Addington. — G'bye: CHISHOLM POTHIER, a longtime JIM FLAHERTY aide who served as Brown's campaign spokesperson, appeared to give up on his party, calling it a "rotting corpse of an institution." But it wasn't all bad. "Some of the last 20 years were fun," he spat. MEANWHILE, IN BRAMPTON — Brown is at the center of a stunning rift at city hall. Deputy mayors PAT FORTINI and MARTIN MEDEIROS co-signed a letter with councilors JEFF BOWMAN, GURPREET SINGH DHILLON and DOUG WHILLANS that dropped another bomb on Brown's embattled political career. SAN GREWAL, the founder of The Pointer, tweeted the missive Wednesday. The quintet's letter said they succeeded in pushing city council to launch forensic investigations into "allegations of financial irregularities, nepotism and possible backroom contract irregularities" during Brown's time in the mayor's chair. — A new front in the war: They allege a C$629,000 city contract was awarded to "a firm that employed one of Brown's closest political allies and a close friend of his main council enabler, ROWENA SANTOS. They say city staff told them "most of" the work promised under that contract was "never even done." — Taking sides: The letter writers call out Brown's allies on Brampton council — Santos, PAUL VICENTE and HARKIRAT SINGH — for shutting down public meetings. "We woke up this morning expecting to go to work but found out Brown had canceled the council meeting late last night, the fourth canceled city council meeting in a row, where we were supposed to deal with the ongoing investigations demanded by Brampton residents." The Brampton Five want to "force Brown back to work." Democracy is "under siege," they complained, thanks to Brown's "abusive leadership." Where is The Story of Patrick Brown headed next? If you happen to know, for the love of god, tell us as quickly as you can. THE FOURTH DEBATE — Tory contenders will gather for their second unofficial debate this Friday in Calgary, just as the Stampede gets underway. The organizers at the Western Standard are charging C$25 per ticket for a show that's seemingly more diminished by the day. They initially managed to convince five candidates to hit the stage, with only PIERRE POILIEVRE no-showing. But LESLYN LEWIS eventually had a scheduling conflict. And Brown is, well, not qualified to attend. — Who's left: JEAN CHAREST, ROMAN BABER and SCOTT AITCHISON. Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook your way? Click here to sign up for your own edition. It’s free!
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