Breaking: Conservatives recant insistence that tapes are unaltered

This just in at the G&M:

Meanwhile, the Canadian Press reported the Conservative party is recanting its insistence that the tapes were not altered or edited. For days the party has claimed the tapes were copies of the original.

Deputy Tory Leader Peter MacKay has now refused to defend the veracity of the 90 minutes of audio.

The Conservatives are also facing an increasing number of forensic audio experts who have concluded the secretly recorded conversations may have been edited.

As many as four audio analysts have examined portions of the tape for various news outlets and pointed to suspicious and unexplained dead air gaps that raise suspicion over the authenticity of recordings at the centre of a massive political controversy on Parliament Hill.

The Liberals have said for days that the tape has been edited.

Update. Or perhaps not. From Macleans:

Tories have defended the covert recordings for days, but Conservative Deputy Leader Peter MacKay refused Friday to vouch for Grewal's credibility.

"Look, I'm not putting my faith in anyone in this entire matter," he said after audio experts said the tapes appear to have been altered.

"I'm not here defending anybody's veracity or whether the tapes are pristine."

Still, MacKay insisted - on Grewal's assurance - that tapes handed over to the RCMP are the original, unaltered version. They could potentially lead to a criminal probe.