Nicola Sturgeon’s spokesperson has accused the Alex Salmond Inquiry of smearing her after they concluded she had misled Parliament.
The official also claimed the Committee had “deliberately ignored and suppressed evidence” and hit out at their “base political motives".
A Holyrood Committee, made up of MSPs, has been investigating the SNP Government’s mis-handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.
Salmond pursued a judicial review and it was agreed the Government probe, which destroyed his friendship with Sturgeon, had been unlawful.
The Inquiry is set to publish its findings within days, but some of the conclusions have been leaked.
A vital issue for the Inquiry centres on meetings between Salmond and Sturgeon in the middle of the 2018 misconduct probe, and what was discussed.
They first met at Sturgeon’s house on April 2nd of that year, but their accounts of what was said at this meeting differed in evidence to the Inquiry.
In his oral evidence, Salmond said Sturgeon had offered to intervene in the process. His lawyer confirmed this account, but the First Minister disputed it.
In his oral evidence, Salmond said Sturgeon had offered to intervene in the process. His lawyer confirmed this account, but the First Minister disputed it.
The Committee concluded: “Her written evidence is therefore an inaccurate account of what happened and she has misled the Committee on this matter. This is a potential breach of the Ministerial Code under the terms of section 1.3c.”
In another criticism, the Committee concluded: “The Committee finds it hard to believe that the First Minister had no knowledge of any concerns of inappropriate behaviour on the part of Mr Salmond prior to November 2017. If she did have such knowledge, then she should have acted upon it. If she did have such knowledge, then she has misled the committee.”
Sturgeon, who is expected to face a vote of no confidence next week, is fighting to hold on to her job.
A spokesperson for the First Minister said: “The First Minister told the truth to the committee, and stands by every word of her evidence.
“Day and daily the public have seen the open, frank approach the First Minister has taken to political leadership. The contrast with elements of the opposition, who appear intent on breaking every rule in the book in a blatantly transparent attempt to damage her before the coming election, could not be more stark.
“The latest leak from the committee, suggesting they find it ‘hard to believe’ that the First Minister did not previously know about inappropriate behaviour on the part of Alex Salmond is not supported by a single shred of evidence. Sadly, she is not the first woman let down by a man she once trusted to face that charge, and regrettably she is unlikely to be the last.
“On this, the committee appears to have resorted to baseless assertion, supposition and smear – that is not how serious parliamentary committees are supposed to work, and in behaving this way they are simply exposing their base political motives.
“And on the suggestion that the First Minister was not clear to Mr Salmond that she would not intervene on his behalf, the committee appear to have deliberately ignored and suppressed evidence submitted to them which corroborates the First Minister’s evidence on that issue. And that, in fact, she did not intervene on behalf of a then friend and colleague to help cover up sexual harassment allegations, appears irrelevant to them.
“It was clear from the actions of the Tories several weeks ago, when they announced plans for a motion of confidence before they had even heard a word of evidence from First Minister, that for them this committee was never a serious exercise in learning lessons on behalf of women who bring forward complaints of sexual harassment – it was only ever about politics.
“The independent inquiry into the First Minister and the ministerial code is being conducted by James Hamilton, and we expect to receive and publish his report soon.”
