The Europe Minister has said he "didn't give give any credence" to a leaked memo suggesting Nicola Sturgeon wanted David Cameron to win the general election.
David Lidington told the Commons he believed he saw a report on the memo although was unsure if it was the actual text.
But he added he remembered the text noted a lot of information had been lost in translation, prompting him not to trust its content.
The memo, written by a civil servant, claimed Scottish First Minister Ms Sturgeon told French ambassador Sylvie Bermann that she would prefer to see the Conservatives remain in power.
Former Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael has come under pressure to quit as an MP for allowing details from the document to be leaked to the Daily Telegraph via his special adviser, Euan Roddin.
He has since apologised, declined his ministerial severance payment and said he would have resigned had he still been a Government minister.
A legal challenge to the election of Mr Carmichael as MP for Orkney and Shetland will be heard in Edinburgh in September, with the Lib Dem denying he has broken electoral law.
Speaking in the Commons, the SNP's Peter Grant (Glenrothes) told Mr Lidington: "The Frenchgate memo included an inaccurate account of a private conversation between the French ambassador and the First Minister of Scotland.
"Which members of staff or ministers in the Foreign Office were aware of the contents of the memo before it was deliberately leaked by a minister down here?"
Conservative frontbencher Mr Lidington replied: "I have a recollection of having seen a report of that - I don't know if it was the actual text.
"What I remember thinking was that it said in the text itself a lot seemed to have got lost in translation. I didn't give any credence to it."
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