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RCMP drop investigation into Nigel Wright’s $90,000 gift to Mike Duffy

Nigel Wright -- the Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff -- is no longer being investigated by police with regard to his role in the Senate expense scandal that rocked the Conservative government for the better part of last year.

The RCMP released this statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"In June 2013, the RCMPs National Division initially launched an investigation of Nigel Wright with respect to his gifting of $90,000 to Senator Mike Duffy.

"When the RCMP initiated the investigation there were sufficient grounds to pursue the matter with regards to the offences of breach of trust, bribery, frauds on the government, as well as receiving prohibited compensation contrary to the Parliament of Canada Act.

"Upon completion of the investigation, we have concluded that the evidence gathered does not support criminal charges against Mr. Wright."

Wright was let go last May when it was learned that he did indeed write a cheque to Duffy.

While Harper initially supported Wright, he eventually distanced himself from his former right hand man as the scandal festered.

"From our side there is one person responsible for this deception. That person is Mr. Wright by his own admission," the Prime Minister said in the House last October.

"For that reason...Mr. Wright no longer works for us, Mr. Duffy shouldn't either."

[ Related: Is Stephen Harper throwing Nigel Wright under the bus? ]

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office told CTV News it was "pleased" that the Mounties have "made progress in their work."

While the RCMP's decision sounds like good news for Harper and the Conservatives, Thomas Mulcair says that the NDP is not going to let-up on the issue.

"The root cause...was Stephen Harper appointing someone as a member of the Senate from Prince Edward Island and he never should of done that because he wasn't living in Prince Edward Island. Everything else flows from that," the NDP leader told CBC News.

"I don't it puts any ring around Mr. Harper who has refused to give clear answers to very simple clear questions in the House and the few times that he has given answers, he's contradicted himself from one day to the next. I think Canadians still have a right to know exactly went on, what the Prime Minister knew and when he knew it."

For his part, Wright says that he feels vindicated.

"I believed that my actions were always in the public interest and lawful," Wright said in a statement distributed to media by his lawyer.

"The outcome of the RCMP's detailed and thorough investigation has now upheld my position."

[ Related: Duffy-Wright probe: PMO gives hard drive to RCMP ]

Tuesday's announcement could mean that Federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson will resume her review into the matter. She was forced to halt her investigation when the RCMP started there's.

Meanwhile, according to the Canadian Press, "the Mounties continue to investigate allegedly fraudulent expenses claimed by Duffy and former Conservative senator Pamela Wallin."

To date, the police have laid charges against former Liberal senator Mac Harb and suspended Sen. Patrick Brazeau -- they each face one count each of fraud and breach of trust.

Both men have denied that the allegations are true and the charges have not been proven in a court of a law.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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