Toronto mayor denies smoking crack cocaine
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford leaves his home in Toronto, May 17, 2013. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
By Julie Gordon
TORONTO | Fri May 17, 2013 12:52pm EDT
(Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford on Friday denied allegations that he smoked crack cocaine.
"Absolutely not true... It's ridiculous," Ford told reporters gathered outside his west Toronto house, before driving off in his SUV. Reporters for the Toronto Star newspaper and Gawker Media said late Thursday they had watched a cellphone video that appears to show Ford smoking crack.
The video is allegedly being shopped around for about $100,000 by people said to be involved in the drug trade. Reuters could not independently confirm the existence of the video.
Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, did not immediately return Reuters' requests for comment.
"We're just trying to see whether or not such a video exists and whether or not any video has been doctored or altered," Morris told the Toronto Sun newspaper.
Asked if Ford planned legal action, Morris said it is at the "bottom rung of the ladder" now.
A Toronto Police spokesman said police are "closely monitoring the situation."
The Toronto Star said it stands by its reporting and the story is just one piece of a broader investigative report about Ford it has been working on for months.
"This isn't a story that we're going to report lightly," said Robyn Doolittle, one of two Toronto Star reporters who said they watched the video three times.
She added: "The Toronto Star has a high bar that we always make sure we meet before we run something, especially when it comes to this mayor."
Doolittle said the paper never intended to pay for the video but did engage in discussions about "numbers" in an attempt to see it. She said the men attempting to sell the video originally demanded C$1 million ($975,000) but then brought the price tag down to C$100,000.
Gawker, which was first to publish the story, did so after the existence of the video began to leak out, said the site's editor-in-chief, John Cook.
"I am confident that I saw Rob Ford smoking crack in that video," Cook said.
"Gawker alone wasn't willing to pay more than $40,000," Cook said. He said Gawker didn't pay to view the video.
Ford, a larger-than-life character who took office more than two years ago with a promise to "stop the gravy train" at city hall, has sparked controversy by skipping city council meetings to coach high-school football and engaging in a confrontation outside his home with a reporter.
He was briefly ordered out of office in 2012 after he was found guilty of conflict of interest but won an appeal and was allowed to finish his four-year term.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday said he has not spoken with Ford since the allegations surfaced. But he told reporters he stands by the mayor.
"Certainly, at this point, we all know that videos can be altered and we certainly know that drug dealers can't be trusted," he said at Toronto City Hall. "So I don't know what we're dealing with here, and until we do, I don't really have much to say."
(Reporting by Julie Gordon; Writing by Cameron French; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Ciro Scotti)
