Former MSP Andy Wightman has accused the SNP of leaking the findings of the committee which investigated the botched handling of harassment complaints made against Alex Salmond – Why am I not surprised by this accusation from Andy Wightman in any shape or form. The confidential report was leaked to the media four days before it was due to be formally published, in violation of the MSP code of conduct. (Holyrood Magazine)
Wightman goes on to say that “The vicious smears and lies spun by the SNP comms machine plus the timings of documents I circulated leads me to the conclusion that it was an SNP member of the committee who leaked these findings to the SNP media in order to spend the next four days trashing the committee.
“In the coming months we will learn more I hope about what exactly went on.”
It is worth revisiting the Wings Over Scotland article An Innocent Man just to remind yourself of the trial and the result that found Alex Salmond innocent of all charges and then put that into the context that Andy Wightman talks about the leak of the committee report
The cross-party committee concluded Nicola Sturgeon had misled parliament, pointing to a “fundamental contradiction” in evidence about whether she agreed to intervene in the probe.
We know from the article written by Wings that “Because to the surprise of many Yessers who considered the whole trial a Unionist conspiracy, it transpired that in fact every accusation had come from people who’d been on Alex Salmond’s own team – either his political colleagues or his staff”.
The Alex Salmond trial remains a stain on our country and will until the truth comes out, if it ever does, but what is clear is that as Wings pointed out also in his article
Every single accuser came from a very small circle within the SNP, or civil servants very closely connected to that circle – a circle at whose centre sit Nicola Sturgeon and Leslie Evans.
We have seen Craig Murray sent to jail for the so called jigsaw identification of accusers, accusers whom the jury in the trial did not believe on one single charge, we have seen others be prosecuted but thankfully not imprisoned like Craig was. We have seen our Procurator Fiscal Office being seen by many as a political office, we have seen Police Scotland be seen to be used as a political Police Force, and we have our Courts be brought to shame by many due to the actions of the trial Judge Lady Dorian, all of this under an SNP Government and under Nikola Sturgeon.
I don’t think we will ever get to know the truth of this whole sorry affair, but my personal opinion is that the SNP have a lot of questions still to answer, Nikola Sturgeon and her (husband) still have a lot of questions to answer, that our Courts protected the state for me is not up for question and that an innocent man saw his career ruined is beyond doubt. We know that Nicola Sturgeon continued to smear Alex Salmond after the trial, even using a Covid-19 briefing Lying Liar Lies Again as again pointed out on Wings Over Scotland.
So I am not surprised by Andy Wightman’s allegations that the SNP leaked the report, and to deflect from Nicola Sturgeon and her unconvincing performance at the enquiry, and while I hope the truth will out some day I just don’t think it ever will. This will remain a stain on Scotland for years to come and it has eroded trust and faith in our Courts, our Police, our Prosecution Services, our Politicians, and all to protect one person and you all know who that is.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
Sadly, there’ll be no unity in the Yes movement until the whole truth comes out.
Dave
I agree, the split runs deep and it is all the fault of Sturgeon and her in circle there is no doubt about that. I believe they wanted to keep Alex Salmond out of politics to protect their own positions and their own salaries but they were too incompetent to carry it out and it became the biggest stain on our country and infected all our important organs of state and all to protect you know who in the end.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Wightman played his part on that committee and got nothing for it. During his time in parliament He had the chance to challenge the landed interest and shirked it preferring to tout at straw men instead, amongst other things. He didn’t rock any boats.
Until recently pinned on his blog’s front page was an article detailing his role on the committee and this article concluded that the whole affair was down to ‘Alec Salmond’s behaviour’. I thought that article was pinned there for a purpose.
In my opinion, it was an advertisement to anyone who went looking that he was still onside.
He was recently quoted as saying he was skint and had no work since leaving parliament.
In my view It was the people who hold the purse strings and hand out jobs on the punters money in Scotland whose ‘behaviour’ was behind the entire Salmond affair . I read this intervention in that way. I think Andy Wightman is a coward. On top of that it became clear fairly early that the Scottish Nation means nothing to him. That left land reform. We were relying on him to take his chance to do something about land reform and he bottled it.
I’ll be keeping my eye out over the next wee while
Obair
I have little time for Wightman, he bottled it at the end of the day to protect the state and if he is having a change of heart it is far too little far too late but it is worth reminding people of this whole sorry affair as we go to the polls in May. People need to remember the role Sturgeon, her inner circle, and the SNP played in this horrible attempt to jail an innocent man. How it looks like Sturgeon and the SNP used the organs of state as shown on numerous articles on WOS to ruin Alex Salmond and how it goes on to this day. Wightman has chosen this time as the elections loom, maybe revenge but I welcome it as it allows new media to show the SNP for what they now are, a British Party.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
We need the truth to come out. Desperately. I suspect there is more going on here but if it is a case of someone genuinely burning his bridges then I would be interested in what comes out next. We have been promised further info have we not?
Obair
The truth can’t come out as long as Scottish Courts protect liars in any case, there is no way that should be allowed to happen as the innocent person is then never innocent no matter what a jury says. It means these accusers get away with it, not one investigation into potential perjury, what Sturgeon has done to Scotland is shameful.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
I agree with everything you have written Obair , Wightman is a self serving coward as he showed in that lying corrupt committee of the oxygen thieving dregs of a scum cabal . IMO like you I believe he thought staying shtum and cooperating with the sham investigation would lead to a wee reward of a position wae the rest of the liars but HAHAHA LOSER nae honour among liars
I also remember him attending one of the female gender critical meetings and when his green pervert colleagues found out he ended up apologising and begging for forgiveness from the pervs but obviously the pervs don’t believe in forgiveness or they didn’t believe his apology so they more or less forced him to resign
So forgive me if I don’t fall for his very belated attempt to resurrect some form of credibility , he had his chance to EXPOSE THE LIES AND CORRUPTION but his cowardice and greed showed his lack of honesty and integrity
Not sure about that Whiteman guy . However l did follow Craig Murrays blogs while he was in court alongside Alex Salmond . Not once did he mention any of the jigsaw women and to this day I’ve still no idea who they are . I hope they pay the price for their lies and deceit . That was my turning point for the SNP , when l listened to Nicolas lies in that committee. How do these folk sleep at night ?
Pauline
I agree, Craig Murray did nothing wrong but many journalists did. However Dorian took her chance to hammer new media and protect the state, why only time will tell and will tell soon if a certain judge gets a certain promotion, enough said hint hint. It is a stain o our history though and one that we need to remind the sheeple of, the role their demi God Sturgeon played in it from start to finish.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
It was my turning point for the SNP, too. My eyes are wide open now and it’s amazing what you see when that happens!
JSM
Thankfully I resigned from the SNP after a couple of months of Sturgeon taking the leadership as it was clear then something was amiss. It started with power grab of the executive and all women short lists, that was enough for me and I left.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Sturgeon is a rank bad’un. Of that that there is no doubt. The evidence is all there to see for those who choose to look. Beats me how anyone could trust someone who did that to Salmond with getting Scottish independence.
What a way for Fabiani to end her political career. Doing Sturgeons bidding and presiding over a fiasco of an Inquiry.
For me the SNP are now a British devolution party. A party of colonial collaborators. They won’t be getting my vote.
Cubby
I agree, the SNP definitely a British Party now in all but name and I agree with you about Fabiani, what a sad end to a decent record as a politician but hopefully one day the truth will come out but I won’t hold my breath. As long as the courts protect the accusers whom a jury did not believe in any way then we won’t ever know. What Sturgeon has done to Scotland is shameful and unforgivable for me, she is not as smart as she likes to think she is and they went after AS because they feared him and corrupted a country to do it. They should all be judged very harshly by history.
Thanks for commenting.Bruce
Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
It was sickeningly obvious that Sturgeon was lying from start to finish. Poor memory? Never. Simply unable to tell the truth. The contrast between herself and Alex Salmond was staggering. When she watched a video of her performance afterwards she must have been extremely worried and decided something had to be done. But as we know she blights all she touches. She and her clique MUST go before they gnaw any more at Scotland’s historically excellent reputation.
Jan
She is on her last legs and she knows it. She might last another year maybe two but she knows it’s over for her now. It’s just a pity that she will pretty much ruin Scotland in the process of her own self serving lack of confidence because while she might present well the fact that she is so controlling just highlights the total lack of confidence she has. Sooner she is gone the better.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Bit by bit the truth is emerging, Sturgeon must be sacked along with her cabal and replaced by Patriots the only way the independence movment is going to move forward is for a purge and night of the long knifes cleanse the SNP from the unionist scourge within it . With another leader it might be feasible to Unite all the various indy parties. But it maybe time for the real Patriots in the SNP to move and defect to Alba .
Alastair
I know many people say that Sturgeon and Blackford are gradualists which is the route that New Zealand took to independence but I am just not convinced at all. You would think that a party like the SNP would be working on independence all of the time, have at least one member of full time staff working on the various elements of the plan, it’s not as if they don’t get enough money from Westminster but they are not doing that and that says a lot as well. I agree time for Sturgeon to go and someone to be in place who is serious about independence.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
At one level we already know the truth. The Scottish establishment put Salmond in the frame simply to destroy his reputation and break his spirit. When the court decided he was innocent, they carried on traducing him at every opportunity and then found a way of sending Mr Murray down. This is the clearest demonstration that the SNP establishment is in cahoots with the British State, for Murray has committed the worst crime of all – spoken the truth about British complicity in dirty wars and secret rendition. To anybody with a functioning intellect, all this is simply the truth.
What we don’t know, or at least what we are not being allowed to find out or expose, is evidence of which individuals acted in which ways to bring it all about.
This fact is what should send shivers up and down the spines of all democrats or anybody still able to think critically. For the establishment, which is now both British and Scottish, will never allow these truths out. Maybe in fifty or a hundred years when statutes of limitation fall away, a few historians might be vaguely interested. Although by that time the planet will be in toxic collapse, and real historians likely to be very thin on the ground, as history will have become another propaganda machine.
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/21/patrick-lawrence-on-american-infantilism/
You might like to re-consider your description of Putin as a “nut job”. I sincerely hope so.
George
Thank you for sharing the link for myself and everyone else to have a look at. I totally get that America has not helped this situation and I also accept that Putin may very well feel that he is in a hard place due to American/NATO expansion but I think anyone waging war, no matter who they are, are madmen and that won’t change. Putin is using the NATO expansion threat to basically steal the Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in my opinion. This is not to save Russian citizens, no matter what Ukraine may have done in the past or continue to allegedly do to these people, he wants the Lithium etc that these areas hold. That is just a robbery lit large, I don’t pretend to know all the ins and outs and I again am more than happy to post your opinions and links but I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one. I welcome guest blogs on GSM and if you would ever like to write one to put the other side of this story then you would be more than welcome.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
I genuinely didn’t know what to make of Wightman. His recent tweet regarding Alex Salmond was just bizarre and uncalled for. https://twitter.com/andywightman/status/1504952192591142918.