Premier Ewart Brown has dismissed calls for him to answer allegations levelled at him in a leaked Police dossier on the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) scandal.

In an interview with Thaao Dill on Hott 107.5 radio, Dr. Brown responded to a question on why he has not been “as clear as possible” in his response by saying: “Where do I start? Am I supposed to start answering allegations just because they’re included in a Police investigation? ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ and then it becomes ridiculous and I think it’s demeaning, it’s embarrassing, it’s insulting.”

Yesterday morning’s radio interview came after The Mid-Ocean News ran a story from leaked — and allegedly stolen — Police files related to allegations of corruption at the BHC.

The documents reportedly revealed that Premier Ewart Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith and former Ministers Renée Webb and Arthur Hodgson were all investigated by Police looking into the BHC allegations. Construction boss Zane DeSilva was another prominent person reportedly investigated, as was former Health Minister Nelson Bascome. When the investigation finished in 2004, then acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said many of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics.

Mr. Ratneser also said some of those investigated escaped prosecution due to Bermuda’s antiquated corruption laws.

Since the investigation into the BHC affair — which is believed to have cost the taxpayer $8 million — one person has been convicted. Terrence Smith, a BHC officer, was found guilty and jailed last year on 41 counts of fraud.

During the radio interview, Dr. Brown told Mr. Dill investigators never questioned him over allegations against him: “Therefore I was exonerated and to call on me now to answer each and every allegation, I think is a bit preposterous,” he said, adding later: “In most civilised societies, we just don’t expose the contents of Police files. Having said that, I want to repeat — they can reveal anything they have in the file about me personally. I know that we are totally in the clear and have been exonerated after an investigation that apparently included Scotland Yard, the FBI and Homeland Security, so there was no issue there.”

Dr. Brown claimed the timing of details of the Police probe emerging was politically motivated as part of a pre-election campaign. He told the radio host: “The timing of all of these so-called allegations and revelations has come with the belief that an election is around the corner and that must mean in my mind that the intention was to have these allegations cause people to reconsider their political loyalty.”

He also told radio listeners: “I think that it is important for the public to know that the party leadership, including the Deputy Premier and the executive committee of the party, have remained steadfast and strong in spite of this onslaught of what I call ‘email anthrax’ and ‘internet terrorism’. They’ve remained strong and I believe Bermudians will see and believe that the Progressive Labour Party can in fact move the country to the next level.”

Dr. Brown’s reference to email and the internet was an apparent allusion to a letter circulated via email and internet blogs last week about the BHC affair from a person dubbing himself “Son of the Soil” who claimed responsibility for the dissemination of the leaked file.

Mr. Dill asked Dr. Brown what he thought of claims from “Son of the Soil” that he is a disgruntled former PLP supporter. He replied: “It’s juicy, and if true it would provide a great deal of excitement”. However, he dismissed the content of the letter — which this newspaper has chosen not to detail on legal advice — as “lies and garbage”.

Mr. Dill also addressed the arrest of Auditor General Larry Dennis by Police investigating the leak of the BHC file to the media. Mr. Dennis — the Government’s fiscal watchdog — was released without charge this week after 24 hours in custody. During the radio discussion of the arrest, Dr. Brown made claims of UBP bias relating to the Auditor General’s role, and claimed the United Bermuda Party produced T-shirts with a “free Larry” slogan.

He told Mr. Dill: “Why is it a shock that a person who is suspected of breaking the law has been arrested? That happens every day in Bermuda and is something that is not a shock to us. We have felt for a long time that the Auditor General’s office has been politicised and have stated that to the Governor.”

Mr. Dill asked the Premier if he read the transcript of an interview the Auditor General did with VSB in late May “admitting that he had the actual dossier and actually saying that the Governor was aware of him having it?”

The Premier replied: “No I didn’t. Because I would never have thought that the Auditor General would’ve been in possession of stolen property. Stolen documents. I thought he was referring to (the) BHC report that I thought was financially relevant to his work. I never thought that he meant the Police file.”

This caused Mr. Dill to ask: “So it was as big a shock to you as to everybody else?” To which Dr. Brown replied “absolutely”.

The radio presenter also invited the Premier to comment on allegations made by lawyer and Progressive Labour Party supporter Julian Hall in an opinion column in this newspaper that there is a “cabal” of Bermuda Police officers aligned to the Ku Klux Klan.

Dr. Brown replied: “I won’t be specific on this, but I will tell you that the history books are full of evidence to support that, and I do believe that if this investigation is taken to its fullest extent, that it could very well shed further light on what Mr. Hall said.”

With news of the fallout from the leaked file hitting international headlines in recent weeks, Mr. Dill asked Dr. Brown if he thought his international and local reputation had been affected. He replied: “No, this is a local phenomenon. There is nothing that has been able to reduce my credibility in the international arena” adding that he thought Bermuda would “mature through struggle.”

Dr. Brown wrapped up by the interview by saying that he was “not angry, and not surprised” by what has happened, that he is “feeling great”. He told Mr. Dill: “This is a distraction — a loud one — but we are carrying on the Government business.”

This week, Chief Justice Richard Ground refused a request from the Police Commissioner and Attorney General to gag the media from reporting further material from the BHC dossier.

The pair have alleged that the document was stolen from Police custody, as did Dr. Brown during his radio interview. However, the Chief Justice noted in his judgement that it is “not at all clear” whether documents have been removed from the possession of the Police with the intention of permanently depriving them, which could amount to theft, or whether the documents have simply been copied and released, which may not.

Mr. Justice Ground’s judgement is the subject of an appeal, and the outcome will be announced on Monday morning.

Dr. Brown has also issued a writ in conjunction with Mr. Bascome for libel and slander against the Island’s media organisations over reports of material from the Police file.