Pointed Questions

Gleaner contributor Gordon Robinson, Attorney-at-Law in a column of August 29, 2010 purporting to outline the sequence of events in the Dudus Extradition affair, made some interesting inferences and asked a number of pointed questions.

Given the details of the statement filed by the former Senator Ronald Robinson to the COE, the following becomes extremely pertinent.

November 20, 2009: MPP has a second meeting with Bisa Williams, a US State Department director. On that same day, according to the May 11 statement of the prime minister:

"Dr Ronald Robinson, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and (JLP) deputy general secretary, ... was invited by Mr Brady to attend a meeting at the State Department but declined ... . He did attend an informal meeting between Mr Brady and a representative of [MPP] ... to discuss the matters in relation to which the firm had been retained."

The inference from Driva's statement is that Brady was at that State Department meeting. If so, why? In what capacity? Did he obtain national security clearance? On what authority was he inviting Mr Robinson to attend? On what authority did Mr Robinson entertain the invitation so much so that, although he declined, he attended what could only have been a subsequent debriefing meeting with MPP and Brady? ......................

If these were innocent meetings, why has Robinson resigned? Why was MPP secretly briefing the GOJ's junior foreign affairs minister after the fact if MPP thought all along that it represented GOJ? Why was Robinson wary of being seen with Brady/MPP at the State Department meeting? Two plus two always equals four.

This happened in November 2009. Why was nothing done to reprimand Robinson until the matter became public? The foreign affairs minister has admitted that Robinson was not, at the time, on any sort of leave known to Government service. He was officially on duty as junior foreign affairs minister. But for the evidence of the cautious wording of the October 1 letter, it's easy to understand how MPP themselves might have been deceived into believing that they were working for GOJ. How many more public officials willingly participated in this JLP plot, sanctioned by the JLP Leader, to deceive the US government (and maybe MPP) that it was engaged in government-to-government talks?

One is left to wonder about the silence hitherto concerning the Vale Royal meetings held between the Prime Minister, Harold Brady and Ronald Robinson. According to Robinson, the first one involved the Prime Minister giving instructions to both Brady and himself and specifically about the briefing of the MPP lawyers of Jamaica's position. On the return of Brady and Robinson, the PM was briefed was briefed as to the outcome of his sanctioned mission.

The unavoidable question:

Why then and there did the Prime Minister not issue instructions to terminate the involvement of MPP?

The answer:

To do so would have obviated the need to have briefed them in the first place.

That presence statement is vital, to wit:
“The HPM,” said Robinson, using the acronym for the title Honourable Prime Minister, “instructed me to go to Washington to meet with the principals of MPP to brief them. My presence would also give some credence and strength to Mr Brady’s involvement.”[emphasis added].