UNPUBLISHED evidence handed over to the Alex Salmond inquiry suggests the First Minister’s team was aware of complaints against her predecessor several weeks before she told Parliament she first became aware of them, fresh reports have claimed.
Nicola Sturgeon strongly denies she has breached the ministerial code and has stressed she will answer “all questions” over her part in the fiasco when she appears in front of the committee of MSPs investigating the Scottish Government’s botched handing of complaints.
A Holyrood inquiry is looking into how the Scottish Government botched its probe into sexual misconduct allegations made against Mr Salmond in 2018.
Mr Salmond had the exercise set aside in a judicial review after the Government conceded it was unlawful and “tainted by apparent bias”, an error that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his legal costs.
He was later cleared of multiple charges of sexual assault at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The First Minister had claimed that she first found out about complaints against Mr Salmond from her predecessor himself at a meeting at her home on April 2, 2018. Ms Sturgeon accepted she met Mr Salmond's former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein, about the matter in her office on March 29, 2018 – insisting she had “forgotten” about the encounter.
READ MORE: John Swinney facing vote of no confidence over Salmond legal advice
But reports in the Sunday Times suggest that unpublished evidence from Mr Aberdein, shared with the committee, claims Ms Sturgeon’s team was allegedly aware of allegations at least as far back as early March.
At last week’s First Minister’s Questions, Ms Sturgeon was pressed over speculation her team had leaked the name of a complainant to Mr Aberdein. The Sunday Times reports that Mr Aberdein's submission also supports that claim.
The First Minister has insisted that “to the very best of my knowledge I do not think that happened”.
But at his appearance in front of the committee on Friday, Mr Salmond was asked by Jackie Baillie about the allegations that the name of a complainant was leaked.
READ MORE: Alex Salmond contradicts Sturgeon's account of complainant name leak
She asked Mr Salmond "was a name of complainant shared?"
Mr Salmond said: "Yes."
When asked how he knew that, Mr Salmond added: "My former chief of staff told me that."
He added that there are "three other people who know that to be true".
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar: Nicola Sturgeon must quit if she broke ministerial code
Mr Salmond added: “I know that Nicola Sturgeon knew about the complaints process at the meeting on March 29, because I was told so by Geoff Aberdein, who told her at the meeting that was arranged for that purpose.
“I cannot say whether she had any prior knowledge of that, but I know that she knew on March 29.”
The First Minister will appear in front of the committee on Wednesday.
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