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Nicola Sturgeon furiously denied that she had “anything to hide” about Alex Salmond, after being accused of misleading the Scottish Parliament about when she first learned of the allegations against her predecessor. In a tense interrogation on Sky News this morning, which some viewers later called a “car accident interview,” the SNP leader was forced to read her WhatsApp messages with Salmond live. Salmond was acquitted of 13 counts of sexual assault, attempted rape and indecent exposure in Edinburgh High Court in March 2020.
The case followed legal actions taken by Mr. Salmond, which determined that the handling of the complaints against him by the Scottish government had been illegal.
Sophy Ridge of Sky News questioned Sturgeon about when he “first learned that he was facing these allegations.”
Sturgeon replied: “He was investigated under Scottish government procedure for complaints that were made to the Scottish government.
“He told me about these complaints in my own home. He told me what he was accused of and gave me his answer, including that he had to apologize for something before.
“A few months before that, Sky News raised a query about Alex Salmond’s alleged misconduct, so I knew about it then, and had that knowledge when subsequent complaints came to light.”
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The SNP leader insisted that she “had nothing to hide in all this.”
However, Ms. Ridge continued to pressure the Prime Minister, saying, “Why haven’t you been completely frank about the first time you became aware of the concerns about his behavior?”
Mrs. Sturgeon replied, “I’m being frank! I just told you, I just told you.”
She accused the Sky News anchor of “combining two different things”, insisting that the alleged sexual behavior raised by Sky News “was different from the complaints that were made later.”
Ms. Ridge replied, “Do you think some people think you’re dancing on the head of a pin here?”
In response, Ms. Sturgeon offered to read a series of messages that she sent to Mr. Salmond at the time, including “Hello, when are you free to talk” and “Are you free to talk?”
She insisted that there were “no major revelations” in the text messages.
Viewers tweeted that the interview showed “what Nicola Sturgeon really is like.”
One user said, “Ms. Sturgeon everywhere on #Ridge. It would be refreshing if she really answered the question.”
Another commented: “Sophy Ridge has Sturgeon nervous about covering up Alec Salmond’s behavior.”
Others described the interview as a “car accident” and claimed that Sturgeon was “all over the place.”
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