Deposed former Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brownâs explosive new tell-all book takes aim at the âenemiesâ he blames for ousting him.His memoir, Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown, will be published Friday, but the Star has obtained an advance copy.Brown, elected mayor of Brampton last month, was forced out as Tory leader in January after CTV News broadcast allegations of a sex scandal involving two women. He is now suing CTV, which stands by its reporting, for $8 million.In the 312-page tome, he claims that despite the accusations, Doug Ford promised him âany position I wanted if I threw my organization behind his candidacyâ during the March PC leadership.The ex-leader lashes out at key advisers Alykhan Velshi, Dan Robertson, Andrew Boddington, and Nick Bergamini, who resigned en masse the night the CTV story broke, as ârats jumping shipâ in his darkest hour.âNot one of these guys was with me, as promised. I was alone,â Brown writes of his dramatic, but ill-advised 81-second news conference at Queenâs Park minutes before the allegations were broadcast.âMy team of backstabbers.âForced out later that evening by his caucus mates, he does not mince words about what happened.âSome of my colleagues had transformed into hyenas.âPrior to being succeeded as Tory chief by Ford â who beat Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney, and Tanya Granic Allen at the partyâs March 10 leadership convention â Brown toyed briefly with a comeback as leader.Yet even before that bid fizzled, he was already engaged in secret negotiations for his support with Elliott, Mulroney, and Ford.âCaroline was someone I was thinking of backing for leadership, having no interest in running myself at that point,â Brown writes, adding her father, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, assured him ââyouâre going to be on her front bench ...
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