Hogue Commission: Lawyer Accuses Trudeau Government of "Nonsense" Memo Deflecting Blame on Threats to MP Chong

In explosive testimony before the Hogue Commission today, a lawyer for Conservative MP Michael Chong accused the Trudeau government’s National Security Advisor, Jody Thomas, of crafting a “nonsense” memo that deflected responsibility for the government's failure to warn Chong on serious Chinese interference threats targeting him and his family.

The lawyer cited a 2023 memorandum from Thomas, addressed to Prime Minister Trudeau, highlighting efforts to implement better measures to warn Members of Parliament about national security threats.

Thomas, who retired this year after being appointed by Trudeau in January 2022, is scheduled to testify in the coming weeks.

In his earlier testimony, Chong stated that he was only alerted to a Chinese diplomat’s targeting of him by a newspaper story in 2023. At the time, he issued a statement, saying: “I am profoundly disappointed to find out through a Globe and Mail report that the Trudeau government knew two years ago a PRC diplomat, working out of the consulate in Toronto, was targeting my family in Hong Kong.”

In his testimony for the Hogue Commission, Chong expressed disbelief at the Trudeau government’s claims that numerous senior officials didn’t receive or read urgent alerts from CSIS about the threat against him.