MLA and Ashton supporter Mohinder Saran ordered copies of Kinew's court documents

Manitoba NDP leadership hopeful Steve Ashton has said he wasn't responsible for the recent leak of court records about his rival in the race, Wab Kinew, after new clues about how the information got out have emerged.

Last week, local media outlets received two anonymous emails containing previously-unreported details about Kinew'spast brushes with the law, including two stayed assault charges against a woman from 2003.

During the same period, the Ashtoncampaign released a series of announcements about Steve Ashton'spersonal disclosure which showed no previous involvement with the criminal justice system and also criticized Kinewoverwhat they describedas a lack of transparency about his past.

• See the complete timeline of events

Since that time, CBC News has discovered two new pieces of informationthat one political analyst says could suggest a link between the anonymous emailandAshtonsupporters.

No comment on court documents: Saran

CBC News has learned that MLA Mohinder Saranrecently ordered copies of Kinew'scomplete court documents. This revelation came to light when acourt clerk inadvertently revealed that Saran hadordered the Kinewpackage while aCBC reporter was at the court house to pick up copies of the same package.

Saran told CBC News in an interview Tuesday that he isworking on behalf of Ashton's campaign, but declined to comment about the court documents.

In addition, CBC News compared the metadata essentially, the file's digital "fingerprint" from thePDF documentcontaining Kinew's court records sent to media anonymously to thatof the PDF containing Ashton's personal disclosure statement, which was sent via his campaign'semail account.

The two files were created using the same make and model ofscanning device.

This does not provethat the two files were necessarily created on the exact same printer.

CBC News analyzeddozens of PDFssent to media from various other NDP groups and sources, none of which were made using the same device.

Political analyst Christopher Adams says while this is not proof of direct involvement by Ashtonor his campaign, it does put his campaign under the microscope.

"If I were Perry Mason, this is strong circumstantial evidence," he said, referring to the famous fictional lawyer.

"I am not a lawyer. I am a political scientist, but it does start showing you that maybe something is coming out of the [Ashton] campaign," said Adams, who added that sometimes supporters go "rogue" and use tactics not authorized by a political campaign.

Ashtondenies involvement

When presented with these findings, Ashtonsaid Saran was not involved in his campaign and denied any knowledge of how the leaked court documents were sent to the media.

"I don't know. I was a sent a copy [of the anonymous email received by media] last week, so I don't know what the story is there," Ashtonsaid.

"When the campaign received the[anonymous email] our decision was not to go public with it. Not to leak it, not to go public," he said.

CBC News requesteda copy of the email that Ashton says his campaign received.He has not responded to this request.

Saran supporting Ashton

Saran confirmed that he is working on behalf of the Ashtoncampaign, helping attract delegates. However, he said he is not formally part of the campaign and is not in the "inner circle."

Last spring, Saran was kicked out of the NDP caucus following an allegation of sexual harassment. He now sits in the Manitoba Legislature as independent.

Askedabout whether or not heordered the Kinewcourtdocuments, he declined comment.He also denied sending documents to Ashton'scampaign or the media, but did say that Kinew should have been more transparent about his past.

"You have to say everything you said and did, and make it public when you write a book," he said.

Kinewwrote about some of his past brushes with the law in his memoirThe Reason You Walk, but did not address the 2003 assault allegations in the book.

"I want to question the party about how we can win the next election with Wab Kinew," said Saran.

Kinewtold CBC News he would not comment on the situation.

"It is not up to me to comment on what the other campaign isup to," he said.

Adams believes that regardless of how the information got out, the pressure being applied by Ashtonto his rival remains relevant.

"I think Ashtonis right to ask about what were those things?Who was the person involved? What was the actual incident that caused this, that eventually led to the stay of charges?I think Ashton is kind of doing what we would expect him to do," he said.

Timeline of events:

August 10

• SteveAshtonpubliclycalls on WabKinewtorelease his tax return.

August 11

• SteveAshtonreleases a five-year summaryof his tax return.

August 13

• CBC News and other media outlets receivean anonymousemail that highlightsa list of past charges against WabKinew,and alleges thathe has not been publicly transparent about his past.

August 14

• SteveAshtonreleases a personal disclosure document that states, among other things, that he has never been arrested, charged or convicted of an offense. He calls on WabKinewto do the same.
  
• In order to confirm the information contained in the anonymousemailsent the dayprevious, aCBC reporter requestscopies ofthe records from the court house. In a moment of confusion over duplicate documents, the court houseclerk inadvertently revealsthat MohinderSaranhadalso requested these same documents.

August 15

• Anemailsent to media usingby an anonymous person using the fictitious name "Seymour Trespasses" containsa PDF of all available court documents regarding WabKinew'spast involvement with Manitoba's justice system.

August 18

• WabKinewaddresses the list of charges and disclosesa previously unknown assault charge from Ontario.Kinewsays it involveda bar fight and says the charges were dropped.
  
• SteveAshtondeniesany involvement in the release of details about Wab Kinew's past involvement with the justice system.

August 22

• SteveAshtonreleases a statement to media outletscondemningWabKinewfornot "owning up" to the domestic violence charge and says Kinew'sincomplete statements "do a disservice to women who are survivors of gender-based violence."
  
• CBC News analyzesthe metadata from the document sent anonymously to media containing Kinew's past charges and finds that the file has been created using the samemake and model of scanner as the one used to create the the personal disclosure statement sent by SteveAshton's campaign team. Ashton deniesany involvement in the release of information.
  
• Asked about whether or not he ordered the court documents, Mohinder Saran declinesto comment.CBC also confirmsthat Mohinder Saran has been actively supporting Ashton's campaign.
  
• Ashton asserts he also received the anonymous email that was sent to media. CBC News asksfor a copy of this email for inspection, but Ashton's campaigned has not responded to numerous requests.