A senior Labour MSP has called on the Crown Office to launch an investigation into the evidence Nicola Sturgeon’s husband provided to the Alex Salmond Inquiry.
In a letter, Jackie Baillie called for an urgent probe into Peter Murrell' s answers in front of MSPs.
A special Holyrood committee is examining the Scottish Government’s unlawful investigation into sexual misconduct complaints against the former First Minister.
The botched probe, which cost the taxpayer over £500,000 ended the friendship between Nicola Sturgeon and Salmond, whose allies believe he was stitched up.
Separately, Salmond was charged with sexual offences, but acquitted after a trial this year.
As part of its work, the Holyrood Inquiry took evidence from Murrell in his capacity as CEO of the SNP.
As revealed by the Daily Record, Murrell sent text messages on the day after Salmond was charged, one of which showed him saying it was a “good time to be pressurising” the police.
Murrell said he regretted the messages and added that the wording was not appropriate.
During the evidence session, Baillie, a member of the Inquiry, asked Murrell if there were “other text messages” to any other party official on the same subject.
Murrell replied: “No, not that I am aware of.”
Baillie added: “I am just asking you to confirm under oath that there is nothing else there.”
Murrell responded: “There is nothing else, no.”
In her letter to the Crown Office, Baillie wrote: “It would seem to be the case that, from information recently placed in the public domain, there were other text and what’s app messages.
“Indeed the Committee has written to you using its Section 23 powers, set out in the Scotland Act, to request sight of those messages, so they evidently exist.”
She added: "As the Crown Office have all the text and Whatsapp messages secured during the evidence gathering phase of the criminal trial against Alex Salmond, you will be in a position to know whether any more exist than the two already in the public domain.
“If that is the case, and particularly if there are more in which Mr Murrell is involved, I am concerned that his evidence to the Committee was not accurate. I would therefore be very grateful if you would confirm that you will undertake an urgent investigation into whether Peter Murrell has committed perjury.”
Murrell has been asked back to the Committee to give further oral evidence.
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser said: “It is time we got to the truth of the matter about what senior SNP figures knew and when, rather than them trying to decide what is relevant information.
“The Crown Office must urgently investigate the SNP chief executive's evidence in order to guarantee that this committee was presented with a true version of events."
The Crown Office said the correspondence will be responded to in due course.
The SNP has been contacted.
