Tommy Turnquest, national spokesperson for FNM released the following statement in response to Christie’s threats of legal action in relation to his work with oil company BPC:
“It will be interesting to see if Mr. Christie actually moves forward with legal action. It may well provide a long overdue dose of sunshine into Mr. Christie and Mr. Davis’ affairs with BPC. The discovery process could require them to–under oath–turn over all communications with BPC, the specific arrangements, the amounts of money paid—including fees paid for future services, the actual dates and specifics on contracts and communications between the oil company, Mr. Davis and Mr. Christie. It should also shed some light on precisely what kind of services Mr. Christie provided the company during his time as a seated Member of Parliament in the opposition.”
“The facts are clear and acknowledged by Perry Christie himself when first asked by reporters—he detailed his services as a consultant for BPC, clearly stating that by virtue of his knowledge of government he was offering advice.”
“Christie is now trying to take back what he said using semantics and technicalities. He slyly says the he received no money from BPC. Well, yes, there was an intermediary on the money trail: As Christie himself has said, he was paid by the law firm of his political partner, Philip “Brave” Davis, to offer advice to their joint client, the BPC.”
“Interestingly, Christie has repeatedly used the start of “this controversy” as his marker of time. He now claims that the relationship was severed before “the controversy” surrounding it came to light. Notice what he does not say: He does not say it was before he ran for office, not before he expressed ambition and started the campaign to return to power, and not before he got himself into a conflict of interest. Just before ‘the controversy’ started.”
Mr. Christie’s blatantly false assertions regarding the FNM’s record on the environment is just another ploy to deflect attention from his own problems. The moratorium on oil drilling was put in place by the FNM government for precisely that reason—to make sure we have the ability to properly vet, oversee and regulate an activity like oil drilling that if not done properly could threaten not only our environment, but the life blood of our economy—tourism.
“The bottom line here is that Christie cannot be trusted to keep his promises or stay true to his words. Last week he told the media what services he provided to the BPC through Davis’ law firm—this week he is trying to intimidate people who are repeating his own words with threats of legal action.”
“But he can’t hide from his own words and the PLP can’t hide from their own record of scandal and corruption.”
