He wouldn't have revealed that at least one senior Labour MP was leaking information to him about those caucus meetings.
He wouldn't have gone on TV and radio three days later, calling the Prime Minister a liar.
He wouldn't have accused the PM's staff of using dual roles to hide official information from the public. And he wouldn't have accused the party of teaching backbenchers how to hide information by using the phone instead of emails.
Dr Sharma's attacks would probably have stopped that Monday night. The media would've moved on. That's how it played out for National with the Sam Uffindell bullying allegations. National ordered an investigation and that story was (temporarily at least) over in three days.
But here we are in day 11 of the drama.
There's probably a good reason the PM didn't want to call an investigation. Inquiries sometimes dredge up information you don't want to dredge up. They sometimes find others who feel the same. And sometimes they set off a chain of events you don't expect. It was then-National leader Simon Bridges ordering an inquiry into the leaking of his travel expenses in 2018 that sparked the Jami-Lee Ross implosion.
But there's also a risk to not calling an investigation. At some point, Labour's ongoing refusal will look like they have something to hide.
The party has come out of this looking marginally worse than Dr Sharma.
They were busted holding a secret meeting behind his back, after all. It was a meeting the PM's office described as in "dispute" until it wasn't in dispute anymore and the PM admitted it.
That's not to say Dr Sharma's come out of this squeaky clean. Three staffers complaining about him looks like a pattern. But none of us know the detail. And unless we do, we'll have to rely on our own judgement of the man.
And that's not great for Labour. Because, Dr Sharma has come across very well in his round of interviews late this week.
He's been calm, confident and warm. He's every bit the family GP.
He seems nothing like the bullying, lying MP-gone-rogue being described by the PM and Labour insiders.
Dr Sharma's unusual in that regard. MPs who go rogue often appear agitated and erratic. Think Chris Carter running down the corridors of Parliament with a TV camera on his heels. Think Jami-Lee Ross driving himself through the night across the country.
Dr Sharma is not that. That makes him a more dangerous foe for Labour. His demeanour makes it harder for them to paint him in a negative light.
The question now is: how many more days of this must Labour suffer? How many more allegations has Dr Sharma got? Does he have any evidence? How much longer can he hold the public and media attention?
There's a good chance that he'll respond when Labour finally moves to expel him. But
after that, who knows?
The biggest political problem here for Labour is that they can't control him. They lost that ability the moment they suspended him from the caucus. They should've just called an investigation.
