No wonder Brandis was trying to cut Gleeson out that Senate directive was clearly intended to prevent the ATO from getting independent legal advice . I can understand Gleeson ' s immense frustration when he resigned , because he wouldn ' t have been able to publicly comment on what actually happened . I ' m really glad this came out , at the very least it vindicates him though we all suspected that anyway . At the same time , I ' d be hesitant to start screaming corruption about Brandis . At the end of the day , this money would have ended up in government hands just state , not Federal . That ' s politically odious , but it ' s not like it ' s lining someone ' s own pockets or at least , there ' s no evidence of that yet .