Mr Ahern was already in Dublin Castle yesterday morning by the time Mr Brian Cowen went on Morning Ireland to explain just how vindicated the party had been at the tribunal the previous day.
As he did last time, Mr Ahern eluded the photographers and camera crews, although he later delivered on a promise to pose for photographs on the way out.
He had arrived early to have enough time to consult his lawyers, and he got plenty of that.
First the tribunal started more than 30 minutes late. Then the tribunal counsel, Mr John Coughlan SC, took 45 minutes ever so politely to demolish the Fianna Fail spin on comments he had made the previous day.
The Taoiseach had started the vindication claims at the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, announcing that on behalf of the tribunal Mr Coughlan had just made it clear that Fianna Fail was co-operating fully. Mr Coughlan had "corrected" the mistaken impression given the previous day, he explained.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, cranked it up on the Six One news that evening, suggesting the tribunal was to blame for failing to spot the key documentation.
But it was probably Mr Cowen who infuriated the tribunal the most, quoting selected chunks from Mr Coughlan's statement to the tribunal to back up his claim that the tribunal thought Fianna Fail's level of co-operation was truly exemplary.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Mr Coughlan announced that he would take the unusual step of detailing the tribunal's dealings with Fianna Fail in respect of donations it received. He would do this "because of certain confusion which has arisen".
Mr Ahern remained in the building but outside the room as, in slow, even tones, Mr Coughlan steadily took a scalpel to Fianna Fail's declarations of vindication. Important information had not been made available by Fianna Fail, he confirmed. The party had not volunteered crucial documents which were "the key without which the cash receipts book cannot be unlocked."
Mr Coughlan disabused everyone of the notion that the tribunal regarded Fianna Fail's level of co-operation as irreproachable.
He said the tribunal was not suggesting "at this stage" that there was a deliberate attempt to withhold documents. It would be for Mr Justice Moriarty to conclude whether there was.
Finally, it was Mr Ahern's turn. He sat back in the witness-box as he explained how he had got an earful from Mr Mark Kavanagh about the party's failure to acknowledge his donation in 1989.
It was not just a matter of not getting a receipt. It was a lack of recognition generally. "He had been treated shoddily," suggested Mr Ahern.
Asked was he surprised or shocked at the news that £75,000 of Mr Kavanagh's money did not go the party, he said: "Maybe when it goes beyond £8.5 million you stop getting shocked."
Mr Coughlan became tetchy as the questioning went on.
Mr Ahern said it had not crossed his mind before that his knowledge of the strange case of Mr Kavanagh's receipt was of relevance to the tribunal. He had never thought in 1996 of asking Mr Haughey about it. That £75,000 had gone missing had never emerged during the 1996 discussions with Mr Kavanagh or party officers.
Shortly after 1 p.m. Mr Ahern's evidence was finished and when he emerged, photographers and camera crews nearly came to blows as they raced to get the shot. He told them to take it easy, he was not going to run off.