NICOLA Sturgeon's office has trashed the Holyrood inquiry into the Alex Salmond affair after it reportedly found she misled parliament.
A spokesman for the First Minister accused the committee of resorting to "baseless assertion, supposition and smear".
He also suggested it had "deliberately ignored and suppressed evidence" that corroborated Ms Sturgeon's position on a key issue.
The extraordinary statement comes after the Holyrood inquiry found the First Minister had misled it, and therefore misled parliament.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon ‘not surprised’ by ‘partisan leak’ from Alex Salmond inquiry
However it stopped short of saying she did so "knowingly", the threshold for resignation under the Scottish Ministerial Code.
It is understood the inquiry split down party lines 5-4 on the issue and decided Ms Sturgeon broke the code on the balance of probabilities, with only SNP MSPs clearing their leader.
The inquiry's full report is not published until Tuesday, but details have been leaked in advance.
It also reportedly concluded it is "hard to believe" Ms Sturgeon did not know of concerns about the former first minister's behaviour before November 2017, as she has claimed.
The cross-party committee is looking at how the Scottish Government bungled its probe into sexual misconduct allegations levelled against Mr Salmond in 2018.
The former First Minister had the exercise set aside in a judicial review by showing it had been tainted by apparent bias, a flaw that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his costs.
A spokesperson for the First Minister: "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.
READ MORE: More Alex Salmond inquiry concerns about Nicola Sturgeon's evidence leaked
"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."
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