What Were Lee Mark and Barton Middleton Discussing?
Barton Middleton
While President of the Senate Lee Mark Chang has few issues with the conduct of the Senate Inquiry, what was not known was that he had a brief conversation with witness Barton Middleton when he testified before the Senate Special Select Committee in March. This was at the time when Middleton refused to answer questions from the Senate panel. The men met in the lobby of the National Assembly while Middleton was eating. Chang was questioned about that today and said he wanted to check two specific things: whether he had a drink to go along with his food and whether Middleton was wearing short pants, which according to Chang, would be a breach of National Assembly etiquette. Although there are reports of other matters being discussed, Chang said that that was the extent of his discussion with Middleton.
Reporter
“You were here during one of the sittings and you were actually seen speaking with Barton Middleton on a couple…you walked down the stairs, he was sitting here; you walked with him and it appeared you were telling him…”
Lee Mark Chang
Lee Mark Chang, President of the Senate
“I did not walk with him. No, no.”
Reporter
“You did not walk with him…”
Lee Mark Chang
“Let me explain myself…”
Reporter
“You ‘hailed’ him, came back up, spoke to him, then…but what you could have had to be speaking with someone like that? Do you know him?”
Lee Mark Chang
“No, I don’t know Mr. Middleton; but what happened here is I came here because I had a previous meeting, I came here early; so I know they were serving lunch. And my dear friend, the Senator from the Business (Community) called me, and I told him, there is no good deed that goes unpunished. While I was walking through the door, I saw the gentleman on the side there and I saw him eating. So I return back and see he didn’t have a soft drink and I said, ‘Sir, do you need a soft drink?’ And I notice he has a Pepsi right on the side of his chair. So okay, I continue walking away down the stairs, and I recall to myself – I said, ‘This guy is wearing short pants,’ and I go back and looked at him and I said, ‘Sir, you know you cannot wear short pants, the Clerk will not tolerate it,’ and then he says, ‘No, it’s rolled up,’ so I said okay, no problem and I left and I went about my business. No good deed goes unpunished.”
Reporter
“So you actually expect us to believe that he wasn’t wearing any short pants; we had seen him before…”
Lee Mark Chang
“It was rolled up.”
Reporter
“And he had appeared before, fully clothed.”
Lee Mark Chang
“I’m not disputing whether he was clothed or not clothed; I just told you – that’s why I was walking down, I thought I saw a short pants, came back to tell him you know you cannot wear a short pants to go in. That was that.”
In related news, Committee Chairman Aldo Salazar denied earlier this week that the inquiry knew of the raid Police conducted on Middleton’s Orange Walk property one day after his second appearance before the Committee, in which a false Justice of the Peace stamp was found. Police have largely been tight-lipped about the reason for the raid.
