Clive Palmer has been unable to tell liquidators why he sent an expletive-laden email to his nephew, former Queensland Nickel chief Clive Mensink, warning him not to try to "cover his arse" or he could ruin everything.  In the email, Mr Palmer warned Mr Mensink: "I told you what to do. Do it. Do not send me anything to cover your arse or you f*** everything . Do not contact me by email again."  The email, which Mr Palmer wrote last November using his Terry Smith alias, had the subject line "letter to the treasurer" and was penned at a time when the nickel company was sliding toward collapse.  It was written when the uncle and nephew were trying to convince the state government to give Queensland Nickel a $25 million loan to deal with a cash flow crisis.  Liquidators are questioning Mr Palmer in the Federal Court about his influence at the nickel company before it collapsed earlier this year, with the loss of almost 800 Townsville refinery jobs and with debts of about $300 million.  Tom Sullivan QC, for special purpose liquidators PPB Advisory, fired question after question at Mr Palmer, asking him to explain the email.  "What was Mr Mensink seeking to cover his arse about?" Mr Sullivan asked.  "I'm not sure," Mr Palmer replied.  "What had you told him to do?" Mr Sullivan asked.  "I don't know," Mr Palmer said, adding he would need to see attachments to the email that weren't there.  "Why did you direct him not to communicate with you via email?" Mr Sullivan demanded.  Mr Palmer said he didn't know why. He told of his preference for face-to-face meetings when possible but denied the pair had struck a deal to keep their communications largely oral.  The dramatic exchange came at the end of Mr Palmer's second day of evidence in court, where liquidators are trying to show he acted as a shadow director at Queensland Nickel before it went belly up.  Mr Palmer denies that claim but if it can be shown he did act in that capacity, he could be held liable if Queensland Nickel is found to have traded beyond the point when it could cover its debts.  Earlier, Mr Palmer told the court he'd lost the mobile phone he used in the year leading up to the collapse, and that he would have used it to send text messages about Queensland Nickel.  He said he lost it eight weeks ago at a Sanctuary Cove restaurant and he's now talking to Telstra about retrieving its data.  The former MP also told the court he became unwilling to put his own money into Queensland Nickel after an October meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.  He said he formed a view after that meeting that "the state and federal governments were determined to put Queensland Nickel out of business", and spoke of the political forces against him.  He also accused Mr Turnbull of working with Australia's top four banks to undermine Queensland Nickel's efforts to secure a $25 million overdraft facility last year, before the company went into administration.  He said Mr Turnbull had promised at the meeting to "talk to the banks" but every one of them turned Queensland Nickel down, despite assets worth $600 million being offered up as surety.  Mr Palmer said he was sure the heads of the banks were "all contributors to the Liberal Party, who were my political opponents at the time".  "This is a political witch hunt, nothing more nothing less."  Mr Palmer is due back in court on Thursday.
Former federal MP Clive Palmer will return to Brisbane's Federal Court on Monday and most likely he'll have a security detail with him again.