Nicola Sturgeon has been exonerated following an investigation over the Alex Salmond scandal.
Irish lawyer James Hamilton cleared her of breaching the ministerial code of conduct after a lengthy investigation into her meetings with her predecessor in 2018.
The findings are a major boost for her as she faces a no confidence vote tomorrow.
The Scottish Government has been under fire for a botched investigation into complaints of sexual misconduct against Salmond in 2018.
After Salmond pursued a judicial review, the Government conceded that its probe had been unlawful.
A special Holyrood committee, which is said to have ruled that Sturgeon misled Parliament, will be published tomorrow.
However a second investigation, headed by Hamilton, has been looking specifically at whether Sturgeon breached the ministerial code of conduct.
Central to the probe by Hamilton, a former prosecutor, were the meetings between Salmond and Sturgeon during the live investigation in 2018.
She met him at her home on April 2nd of that year, where she said she learned of the allegations for the first time, and had follow up summits and phone calls with him.
Sturgeon has also faced intense pressure after admitting she forgot about a meeting with Geoff Aberdein, Salmond’s former chief of staff, days before the April meeting.
Her political opponents accused her of concealing the Aberdein meeting and of failing to disclose the first Salmond summit to the Government.
However, after a wide-ranging investigation, Hamilton cleared the First Minister.
He considered the allegation that her failure to record her meetings and telephone discussions with Salmond and others amounted to a breach of the Ministerial Code.
Hamilton also examined a claim she may have “attempted to influence the conduct of the investigation” being carried out by the Government into Salmond.
He also looked at whether the First Minister “misled” the Scottish Parliament in relation to her meetings with Salmond and Aberdein.
Finally, he investigated whether she was in “breach of her duty” to comply with the law in respect of the Government’s response to judicial review
On this matter, Sturgeon’s critics say the Government pushed ahead with a legal defence after being warned by counsel they would lose.
Hamilton cleared her on all counts: “I am of the opinion that the First Minister did not breach the provisions of the Ministerial Code in respect of any of these matters.”
Sturgeon said: “I welcome the conclusions of James Hamilton’s independent investigation, which are comprehensive, evidence-based and unequivocal.
“Mr Hamilton has considered all of the allegations against me, and I am happy that his report’s findings clear me of any breach of the ministerial code.
“I sought at every stage in this issue to act with integrity and in the public interest. As I have previously made clear, I did not consider that I had broken the code, but these findings are official, definitive and independent adjudication of that."
The exoneration means it is almost certain a no confidence vote in Sturgeon, tabled by the Tories, will fail.
