MSPs on the Alex Salmond inquiry voted against publishing a "bombshell" submission by the former First Minister.
It is understood the Holyrood committee voted 5-4 against making a written statement by Salmond available.
A parliamentary source believes Salmond will not now give oral evidence in front of MSPs.
The special Holyrood committee is investigating the Scottish Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct complaints against the former first minister.
Salmond took the government to court in 2018 and it was accepted the internal probe had been unlawful.
The fiasco ended the friendship between Nicola Sturgeon and Salmond, whose allies believe he was targeted by Government and SNP figures.
A key area for the committee inquiry centres on the meetings Salmond and Sturgeon held during the misconduct probe in 2018.
In a submission to Holyrood, described by the Tories as a "bombshell" , Salmond accused his predecessor of misleading parliament and breaching the ministerial code of conduct. Sturgeon denied the claims.
However, the Parliament recently decided against publishing the Salmond submission - despite it being widely reported in the media. The move infuriated Salmond, who described the decision as farcical.
His lawyer responded at the time by saying Salmond “cannot accept a position” where his evidence is “not to be published”.
At a session of the committee today, it is understood a vote was taken and a majority voted against publication.
Four SNP MSPs, as well as Independent MSP Andy Wightman, made up the five. Tory, Labour and Lib Dem MSPs voted for publication.
In another vote, SNP MSP Maureen Watt proposed that the Committee agreed that, given the legal constraints, it would not be able to publish any version of the Salmond submission. This was carried by 5 votes to 4.
Finally, Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell proposed that, in the absence of a unanimous position on the publication of the Salmond submission, it should now go to the SPCB for decision.
The proposal was defeated 5-4.
Informing Salmond of the decision, Committee convener Linda Fabiani wrote: "A majority of the Committee agreed that, given the legal constraints under which the Committee must operate, it is not able to publish any version of your submission on the Ministerial Code."
She added: "We appreciate that, as well as not publishing your full submission as you requested, the Committee is also not in a position to meet your request for immunity from prosecution to enable you to refer to certain evidence under oath. On that basis, the Committee is not in a position to meet the conditions that you have set for giving evidence to this Committee."
Wightman tweeted: "I vote on matters in Parliament according to my own independent assessment of the issue and, in particular, having regard to the reputation of Parliament and my duties as a lawmaker to observe the law.
"Furthermore I condemn the ongoing leaks from the SGHHC Committee of legally privileged information, the apparent regular breaches of the Code of Conduct of MSPs and the failure to observe the duty of confidentiality."
Salmond is expected to snub the committee and stage a press conference. Sturgeon is in line to give evidence next week.
Holyrood sources fear the failure to publish the submission will damage the committee inquiry.
Scottish Labour interim leader and Committee member Jackie Baillie said: “The decision not to publish this vital evidence is, in my view, a blow to the credibility of the Committee, and, by extension, to the Parliament itself.
“The evidence in question is already largely in the public domain and by refusing to publish it, even with appropriate redactions, the Committee has denied itself the chance to question the former First Minister.
“I do not believe that the public interest has been well served by this decision and the ability of the Parliament to hold the Scottish Government to account is called into question.”
Lib Dem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton, a member of the Inquiry, said: “If we are to get to the bottom of how the Scottish Government failed the women at the heart of these complaints so terribly, then we must hear from the subject of its investigation.
"Without a complete version of events from the former First Minister then we will not be able to offer Nicola Sturgeon the opportunity to answer those claims. Something she has repeatedly expressed determination to do.
“The future of this whole inquiry is in jeopardy but we owe it to the complainers, who must have hated every second of this process, to at least try to reach a conclusion.”
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: "It is hugely disappointing that some of my fellow committee members have failed to back my call for this vital evidence to be published - with appropriate redactions- despite much of it already being in the public domain.
“This again sums up the lack of scrutiny the SNP Government will be subjected to in relation to this inquiry. It will constrain what we can say and what we can ask of witnesses which is completely unacceptable.
“Today’s vote will only raise suspicions among the wider public that the SNP Government have had no intention of being fully transparent with this inquiry despite what the First Minister has said previously.”
