Spycraft, Bumblef*ck-style

Hot on the heels of the news that Toronto cops have video of Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack, the Toronto Star reports on the spycraft deployed by the wily mayor in his contact with his fixer Sandro Lisi, including the old gas-station Gatorade caper:

In the 44 days, Lisi and Ford had 349 "points of telephone contact," the documents said.

There are also multiple examples of on-the-ground surveillance.

For example, just before 4 p.m. on Sept 8, after calls were placed to Lisi from the mayor's Deco label business and his car's On Star system, the pair met at the Esso gas station near Ford's home.

Police watched as Ford entered the gas station, bought a newspaper and a Gatorade, then waited in his car. When Lisi arrived at 4 p.m., Ford got out of his car and entered the gas station again to use the washroom without speaking to Lisi, who backed his Range Rover up besides the mayor's vehicle.

Ford got back in his car, the pair roll down their windows, talk briefly, and then leave.

Here's the whole police file on the Ford/Lisi surveillance.

Rob Ford video scandal: Police have the video that appears to show mayor smoking crack, Blair says [Toronto Star]