Of thee I sing

The more Benoit Corbeil talks, the harder it is to believe that Adscam was restricted to a small clique of Chretienites working in secret -- secret, certainly, to the senior minister from Quebec -- a stain on the party's good name that the Wire Brush has scrubbed clean:

Ministerial aides to several current and former Liberals, both federal and provincial, were paid under the table during the 2000 federal election campaign, the sponsorship inquiry was told Monday. Former federal Liberal executive Benoit Corbeil said the workers, including two current political staffers for federal cabinet ministers, were paid a total of $50,000 in cash that came from ad man Jean Brault. Corbeil's testimony, highly anticipated following media interviews he gave, also includes allegations he gave $5,000 in cash to the riding of Liberal candidate Denis Coderre in 1997. Coderre went on to become a cabinet minister under Jean Chretien. [And Paul Martin - AC] Corbeil said the illicit donations in 2000 were paid at the start of the campaign to several current ministerial staff, including: - $5,000 to Irene Marcheterre, later named head of communications for federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre. - $3,000 to Daniel Dezainde, currently press secretary to Jacques Saada, federal minister in charge of Quebec regional development. [Dezainde formerly worked in the Chretien PMO, and later succeeded Corbeil as executive director of the Liberal Party's Quebec wing. - AC] - $6,000 to Claude Lemieux, who now works in Quebec Premier Jean Charest's office. - And $15,000 for distribution to party workers in 2000 by Bruno Lortie, now chief of staff to Quebec Municipal Affairs Minister Nathalie Normandeau. The testimony bolsters claims by Brault who says his Groupaction Marketing firm funnelled $1.1 million in cash to the party's Quebec wing from 1993 to 2002.

Politics Watch adds:

He also said he gave Richard Mimeau, a known supporter of Paul Martin, an envelope containing $6,000 to reimburse him for travel expenses. Mimeau was one of two regional directors Corbeil hired when he became director of the party in 1999. He said his selection of Mimeau irked some in the Chretien wing of the party because of his ties to the "Martin clan." Corbeil said Mimeau was a friend of Pietro Perrino, one of Martin's top organizers in Quebec. However, Corbeil said he selected Mimeau as a way of neutralizing things between the Chretien and Martin factions in the party in Quebec who were constantly at odds with each other... While much of the testimony about the scandal to date has focused on people considered to be in the Chretien wing of the party, the involvement of Mimeau is the first time a Martin person's name has been so prominent.

UPDATE: Mimeau is also Jean Lapierre's "special assistant for Quebec."