How much did Stephen Harper know about Duffy’s expense repayment?

Two of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's closest advisors have been linked to the ongoing scandal surrounding Senator Mike Duffy's improperly-claimed living expenses.

Last week it was revealed that Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, cut a personal cheque to pay the $90,000 Duffy owed after an auditor determined that he had claimed the amount for a home in Prince Edward Island despite the fact he rarely stayed there. On the weekend, Wright resigned his position.

And just yesterday, it was found that another member of Harper's key inner-circle — Carolyn Stewart Olsen — was one of two key Senate members who ordered that the public version of the audit be edited to remove some of the incriminating details of Duffy's expenses.

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Olsen has been called one of Harper's closest advisors since their days together in the Canadian Alliance Party. She was Harper's chief communications strategist until being appointed to the Senate in 2009.

For his part, Harper has denied any knowledge of a "secret deal" between Wright and the Senate's internal economy committee.

"I learned of this after stories appeared in the media last week speculating on the source of Mr. Duffy's repayments," Harper said Wednesday during an official visit to Peru. "I was not consulted, I was not asked to sign off on any such thing. Had I obviously been consulted, more importantly I would not have agreed, and it is obviously for those reasons that I accepted Mr. Wright's resignation."

Opposition critics are not satisfied. New Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has formally requested details in the repayment deal, and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is challenging Harper to clear the air.

"Be clear, be forthright, stop hiding out in the Andes, get back up here, tell people what actually happened," Mulcair said in a news conference Wednesday.

Harper is a notorious micro-manager and has a long history of keeping his closest allies in line. Could he have known more than he's letting on about the repayment of Duffy's expenses?

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