Worst. Bluff. Ever.

Deceivin' Stephen figures that a threat to sue the Libs for defamation will somehow help his own cause when it comes to Cadscam. But let's consider what would actually happen if a lawsuit went forward.

After all, as much as the Cons would like to make the issue one of parliamentary privilege alone, truth (or technically "justification") is a full defence to a claim in libel. And if the Libs were to raise that as a defence, with the alleged truth of their statements brought into issue, they'd be entitled to full disclosure of any documents relevant to the question of what the Cons did or didn't offer to Cadman.

Of course, the libel notice seems to want to make the cut both ways by demanding access to the Libs' own internal computer systems. But it's hard to see how that could be of any relevance to what was actually published - while the Libs' entitlement to information from the Cons would be obvious.

What's more, Harper would almost certainly have to testify personally as to what actually happened. And as thoroughly as the Cons may be able to stonewall during the course of an hour-long question period or even a committee hearing, it would be an entirely different matter for Harper to avoid saying something damaging during an extended examination for discovery focused on a detailed review of such topics as what he meant by "financial considerations (Cadman) might lose due to an election" in his taped interview with Tom Zytaruk.

And of course Flanagan, Finley, and anybody else with relevant knowledge would come under similar scrutiny - potentially laying bare the Cons' entire command structure. Which means that if Harper were foolish enough to actually go forward with the threatened lawsuit, the effect might well be to finally open the floodgates to exactly the kind of information which the Cons have gone to severe lengths to suppress.

Finally, the outcome of a trial would depend almost entirely on a technical discussion as to the definition of the word "bribe". Which must surely be the last word Harper wants permanently associated with himself personally - especially when it's not too late to try to deflect most of the responsibility.

In sum, the Libs' response to the libel threat should be a hearty "bring it on". And if the added bonus is to see Harper back down, they surely can't complain about that result either.