Former national security minister Gary Griffith is expected to meet with police soon to report the details of a meeting with government advertising consultant Ernie Ross. After that, Griffith says it will be up to the police to decide whether criminal charges should be laid against the people named in his report. In an interview yesterday, Griffith reiterated that he was dismissed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for “refusing to take one for the team” and for “not supporting one of the boys.”
While Griffith did not want to divulge too many details about the alleged meeting, where his wife Nicole Dyer-Griffith was also present, he said the meeting at Ross’ Woodbrook office was used to influence him to rethink his position as a witness in the matter involving the former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and Police Complaints Authority (PCA) head David West.
“They attempted to influence me, and in the presence of my wife, by saying what repercussions my witness statement could have on us,” Griffith said. Pressed further, Griffith said he could not say more on that matter as he would not want to taint a police investigation. On the matter of his dismissal, Griffith said the Prime Minister's reasons lacked “good logic.” He wondered why if Ramlogan asked him to ask someone a question, why he in turn would need to report that to the PM.
“She's saying she removed me for not telling her? That’s really desperate and the country not falling for that,” Griffith said. “Why must I run to tell her the (former) AG ask me something? Doesn't she have a country to run? “It is a desperate attempt designed to remove me. If that is her logic, that is mind-boggling,” he added.
Made a scapegoat
Griffith was allegedly asked to convince West to withdraw his witness statement after initial overtures to West by Ramlogan had failed. But Griffith said he was unaware that the matter he was being asked to bargain for was the matter involving the AG and Rowley. Griffith said Persad-Bissessar's other reason for removing him was because he would be implicated in a police investigation.
“First of all, that is ridiculous. The police will tell anyone that I am not a suspect. They will say that I am not implicated in anything, I am merely a witness," he said. "Secondly, I recall that the Prime Minister is currently under investigation in the E-mailgate matter and yet she remains the head of the Security Council. So that defies logic as well," he added. Griffith and Communications Minister Vasant Bharath also had a short media spat just before Griffith was removed.
Griffith had claimed that Bharath was at Ross' office just before he and his wife were called in. He claimed that Bharath was also aware of what took place in the meeting with Ross. Yesterday, Griffith said he remained livid that Bharath accused him of breaching Cabinet confidentiality. "That is baseless, unfounded and reckless. I will not beat around the bush, that is a complete lie," he said.
Ross has denied the meeting ever occurred, saying he had put the matter in his lawyers’ hands. But even after getting burned in his young political life, Griffith said he is already planning a return to the field. While he would not say which political party could count on his support, he yesterday confirmed that the country "has not seen the last of me."