Payette faced charges

Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is refusing to say what he knew — and when he knew it — about a dismissed, non-felony charge against his choice for Governor General.

Julie Payette is calling the six-year-old incident a case of an "unfounded" allegation for which she was "immediately cleared" without any prosecution.

The second-degree assault charge doesn't appear in Maryland court records, but is accessible through American-based background check websites that provide the charge, dates, case number, location and reason for its dismissal. It provides no further details about the reasons for the charge.

The incident has raised questions about whether Trudeau knew about the potentially embarrassing information during the selection process that took place behind closed doors in the Prime Minister's Office. 

Trudeau twice said Wednesday he had no comment when asked about the deleted charge against Payette.

An online background check search shows that Payette was charged with second degree assault on Nov. 24 2011. The prosecutor formally dismissed the charge about two weeks later on Dec. 8, 2011.

At the time, Payette was living with her then husband William "Billie" Flynn.

Payette and Flynn went through lengthy divorce proceedings that closed in late June when Payette withdrew a motion for child support, based on online Maryland court records. The records also show that a motion to seal the proceedings and accompanying affidavits was filed in Maryland court Tuesday.

Meanwhile, media reports surfaced late Wednesday that said Payette was also involved in a fatal accident in Maryland in July 2011, four months prior to the assault charge.

She reportedly struck and killed a pedestrian who had stepped off a curb into in front of Payette's car. The case was closed without charges in April 2012 following an eight-month police investigation.