The first thing to note about the current SNC-Laval-Wilson-Raybould scandal is that it doesn't yet have a cool, concise nickname.

And it needs one desperately since SNC-Laval-Wilson-Raybould scandal is way too long to write.

Maybe, "Justicegate" or "SNCscam" or "Trudeau's Folly"?

At any rate, the second thing to note about this scandal is how the Trudeau Liberals are trying to limit the political damage.

Of course, by now, I'm sure you're aware of all the damaging sordid details.

According a recent Globe and Mail report, the Prime Minister's Office allegedly interfered in a criminal case against SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal-based engineering and construction company.

More specifically, the Globe story suggests the PMO allegedly tried to influence former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in criminal proceedings against the company, hoping she could convince federal prosecutors to make a deal with the company.

Wilson-Raybould reportedly refused and later (perhaps not coincidently) lost her job as Justice Minister.

So yes, this is by the far the biggest piece of dirty linen to ever fall out of Trudeau's political closet.

Up until now the scandals hitting his government have either been inside baseball stuff government officials charging taxpayers for moving expenses or somewhat trivial a billionaire paying for his jaunt to a Bahamas tropical resort.

By contrast, Justicegate (hey, maybe it'll stick) has bite.

For one thing, what makes it so potentially dangerous for the Liberals, is this particular saga has an easy to follow, soap opera-style narrative.

Indeed, it comes across like a Hollywood script: plucky Minister bravely stands up to corrupt politicians who want her to sidestep justice to help out a soulless, faceless corporation.

My point is, it's the kind of story that, if properly stoked, can get citizens outraged.

So, Trudeau will need to come up with a good communications strategy, i.e. a strategy that won't make things worse.

And yes, politicians often do make bad things worse.

Remember, for instance, how the former Conservative government under Stephen Harper misplayed the Senator Mike Duffy affair?

If you don't remember, here's a reminder: When stories emerged alleging Senator Duffy had inappropriately claimed living expenses, Harper's  Chief of Staff, Nigel Wright, gave him money so he could pay the claimed expenses back.

Needless to say, when this became public the Duffy scandal went ballistic and Wright was forced to resign.

Then there's the case of former Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Recall that Martin assumed the leadership of the Liberal Party at a time when the sponsorship scandal, i.e. "adscam" was percolating.

Martin's response to that scandal, which he blamed on the previous Liberal government, was to go on what the media called a "mad as hell" national tour in which he vocally expressed his own outraged indignation at his own party's alleged misdeeds.

The end result: he reminded Canadians of the scandal on the eve of a national election and, worse, he basically gave them permission to be outraged at the Liberals.

Not a good idea.

Anyway, this brings us back to Trudeau and the brewing Justicegate scandal.

Initially, his performance was less than stellar, or more accurately, it was terrible.

My strong impression is that the Globe story caught both Trudeau and his staff totally off guard, meaning they didn't have a strong prepared response.

Yet for some stupid reason, the Liberals still put Trudeau in front of a pack of reporters to answer questions.

When pressed on the issue, he basically kept repeating over and over again a legally weaselly line that came across as a non-denial, denial.

The end result: Trudeau looked defensive, he looked like he was hiding behind legal semantics, he looked guilty.

After that original encounter, however, the Liberals have since regrouped.

It's an old adage in politics that if you can't attack the message, attack the messenger.

And that's exactly what the Liberals are doing going on the attack.

First off, they're attacking the Globe and Mail for running what they call a "false" story, Trudeau hasn't used the words "fake news", but he can tell he's dying to.

Secondly stories are starting to emerge which paint Wilson-Raybould in less than a flattery way, i.e. anonymous sources are calling her incompetent or not a team player or hard to work with.

Thirdly, the Liberals are basically, saying anyone who criticizes them over helping SNC-Laval must hate Quebec, since that company is one of the province's biggest employers.

Basically then, they're starting to follow the example of former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Unlike Harper or Martin, Chretien understood that voters don't really care all that much about scandals, since, after all, their default position is "all politicians are crooks."

As matter of fact, what voters are primarily looking for in a leader is competence.

So much so, I'd argue they'd rather have a crooked smart guy leading the country than an honest dope.

Hence, when Chretien was faced with a scandal, he didn't overreact; he just basically shrugged it off.

Anyway, this means the fourth line of Liberal attack will be to essentially call Conservative leader Andrew Scheer an incompetent dolt.

True, such an "attack" strategy won't make the Justicegate scandal go away, but it could defuse and dilute voter outrage.

And that's all the Liberals really need.

Photo Credit: Jeff Burney, Loonie Politics