Rob Ford documents: 8 revelations from wiretap evidence
Information released Wednesday from police wiretaps has Toronto Mayor Rob Ford facing a host of new accusations and revelations.
The allegations, from a police investigation called Project Brazen 2, are unproven and have not been tested in court.
Here are some of the allegations in the documents:
When Ford admitted after months of denials to having smoked crack cocaine once likely during one of his "drunken stupors," he said he "has nothing left to hide."
But wiretap interceptions from the Toronto police investigation suggest crack cocaine may not have been the only drug the mayor has used.
During an April 20 phone conversation between Liban Siyad and Abdullahi Harun, Harun claims he has multiple photographs of Ford "doing the hezza," or heroin.
On May 18, Toronto police interviewed then Ford staffer David Price. Price has known the Ford family for 35 years and attended high-school with Coun. Doug Ford, Rob's elder brother. He was hired several weeks before he spoke to police.
Price told police that he believed the Ford brothers "are not on speaking terms right now."
A day before the Price interview, Rob Ford denied allegations by the Toronto Star and U.S. website Gawker that he was caught on tape smoking crack cocaine.
The Ford brothers tend to publicly display a united front with the councillor often defending the mayor, and the duo recently appeared together on a U.S. media blitz.
Rob Ford vehemently denied that the house at 15 Windsor Rd., where the mayor was photographed with three suspected gang members, was a crack house.
"That is not a crack house," Ford told Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson when questioned about the residence during a council meeting. "Have you visited the house? Have you walked in the house? No you haven’t ... So you’re listening, you’re listening to what the media says?"
Police documents reveal the address is believed to be a so-called trap house where people sell drugs. Wiretap interceptions revealed someone was called to the house on April 20 because the mayor "wants some drugs."
In his second interview with police on June 19, Price discussed the home at length and admitted to visiting it previously.
Shortly after the first allegations against the mayor, Price visited the home to question one of the residents about the allegations. He said the woman who opened the door appeared to be high.
Anthony Smith, who appears in the 15 Windsor Rd. photo with the mayor, was shot and killed in March.
Mark Towhey, Ford's former chief of staff, told police he had a conversation about Smith's murder with Price. Towhey said Price disclosed that Smith owned the cellphone storing the video of the mayor smoking crack cocaine and that it was the motive behind killing him.
However, the motive for Smith's death was discussed during interceptions and may have been in retaliation for a robbery.
On the night of Smith's death, police say members of a rival gang to the Dixon City Bloods — the focus of the raids — became involved in a fight at a downtown night club with Smith and another man.
The infamous crack video is not the only attempt by others to capture Toronto's mayor in a compromised position.
When Ford had his phone stolen on April 20 while at 15 Windsor Rd., his former driver, Alexander Lisi, told the men believed to have had the phone that Mayor Ford would "put heat on Dixon" if they didn't return it. In an intercepted conversation, the men seemed annoyed over the threats because they claimed to have photos of Ford "on a pipe."
Another intercepted conversation from the same day has Harun claiming to have multiple photos of Ford using heroin. Siyad encourages him to take those pictures "because of what it would be worth."
On the same day, Siyad says in another conversation that he will put a photo of the mayor "smoking his rocks" on Instagram.
Police documents suggest Ford made an offer to the men attempting to sell the video to Gawker and the Star.
On March 27, Mohamed Siad — identified by the Star as having shown two of their reporters the crack video in May — recalled a time a man believed to be Ford offered him $5,000 and a car in exchange for the video.
Siad thought the video was worth more. He had asked Gawker for $200,000, and said he would ask Ford for $100,000 or $150,000 instead.
In an interview with police, Ford's former press secretary, George Christopoulos, said the mayor enjoyed making fired individuals do the "walk of shame" when leaving the office for the last time. Christopoulos said it was the mayor's way of slanting the situation to make it appear "like the people leaving had done something wrong."
When he and former staffer Isaac Ransom quit over the phone, Christopoulos says the mayor attempted to rush them into the office so he could force them to take the so-called walk of shame.
In addition to heroin and cocaine use, the police documents allege the mayor may have an alcohol abuse problem.
Ford admitted to reporters that he "might have had some drinks and driven."
However, he later changed that statement during an interview with CBC's Peter Mansbridge, saying his behaviour was the same as any social drinker.
"All of us have done this — whoever has a [driver's] licence — you go out to a dinner party, you go out to a restaurant with your wife, you have a glass of wine," he said. "Do you drive? Absolutely, you drive."
