Gerald Butts resigns as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary
In a major shakeup to the highest ranks of the Prime Minister's Office, Gerald Butts resigned Monday as Justin Trudeau's principal secretary.
The bombsell departure — Butts, along with chief of staff Katie Telford, are the two most senior staffers in Trudeau's inner circle — comes amid allegations that senior members of the PMO pressured former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to help Quebec-based multinational engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution on bribery and fraud charges in relation to contracts in Libya.
In a statement to reporters, Butts said he categorically denies allegations that he or anyone else in the PMO put this sort of pressure on Wilson-Raybould. He said this sort of accusation is "simply not true."
And here's a tweet from Justin Trudeau containing Butts's full statement.