Alex Salmond’s submission to the Holyrood harassment inquiry is being removed from the parliament's website.
The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) agreed to the move after concerns were expressed by the Crown Office.
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “Following representations from the Crown Office on Monday evening, the SPCB agreed collectively this morning that it will remove the Alex Salmond submission on the Ministerial Code from its website with immediate effect and republish it later today in a redacted form.
“The SPCB will respond formally to the Crown Office shortly.”
A Holyrood committee is investigating the SNP Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.
Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Nicola Sturgeon, had been unlawful.
The former First Minister’s allies believe government and SNP figures tried to plot his downfall.
He was separately acquitted of sexual offences after a trial last year.
The Holyrood inquiry has itself been at the centre of a row after twice refusing to publish one of Salmond’s submissions.
MSPs on the Inquiry were concerned about a potential breach of a court order in the criminal trial.
However, the parliament’s governing corporate body decided the submission could be published and it appeared on the Holyrood website yesterday.
In his bombshell submission, Salmond accused Sturgeon of misleading parliament in relation to the unlawful sexual misconduct probe.
He also accused senior SNP figures, including Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, of supporting a “malicious and concerted” attempt to damage his reputation.
However, as revealed by the Daily Record, the Crown contacted the Parliament yesterday over concerns about the publication of Salmond’s submission on the ministerial code.
They feared it could breach a court order from Salmond’s criminal trial and requested either its removal or redaction.
Parliament’s governing body convened an emergency meeting this morning and agreed to remove the submission and republish a redacted version.
Salmond is due to attend the Inquiry tomorrow.
