A Scottish Government director who corrected her evidence to the Salmond Inquiry is retiring at the end of the year.
Barbara Allison told colleagues she had “mixed emotions” about leaving but said there are “other things that I would like to do”.
A Holyrood committee is investigating the Government’s botched probe into sexual misconduct complaints against the Alex Salmond.
The internal probe was ruled to be unlawful and cost the taxpayer over £500,000.
Salmond is furious over his treatment and has called for the resignation of Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans, the top civil servant in the Scottish Government.
MSPs are examining various issues, including the development of the anti-harassment policy, the handling of the actual complaints, and Salmond’s successful judicial review.
Allison, who was the Government’s director of people from 2009 to 2016, gave evidence to the Committee in September.
She told MSPs she had “some early contact” with the two individuals who ultimately complained about Salmond.
Twenty-four hours after giving evidence, she wrote to the Committee to “correct” a date she had provided in relation to an answer she had given.
She sent another letter days later to the committee on whether she had been sent a text message by Evans in January 2019.
The text stated: “We may have lost the battle, but we will win the war.”
Allison said in her oral evidence that the message was not to her, but in her subsequent letter said she had asked if a search could be carried out to determine whether she received it.
Allison, now director of Communications, Ministerial Support and Facilities, is retiring at the end of the year.
In an email in June, three months before her evidence session, she wrote:
“It has been a huge privilege to work with the Scottish Government for the past 10 years, and prior to that with the Scottish Prison Service.
“It is therefore with some sadness that I am writing to say that I intend to leave the Scottish Government at the end of the year. I have decided that there are other things that I would like to do next year and in the future, and I am excited about the thought of doing so.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ms Allison has long intended to retire from the Civil Service at the end of this year and there is therefore no connection whatsoever between this and any other event or issue.”
Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who is a member of the Holyrood inquiry committee, said: “I wish Barbara Allison well, and I hope before she leaves she recalls whether the message sent by the Permanent Secretary was sent to her.”
