Green accused of 'smearing' woman who accused him of inappropriate behaviour
Journalist Kate Maltby says she is considering legal action after claiming she was misrepresented in a national newspaper.
Sunday 24 December 2017 15:29, UK
The former first secretary of state and de facto deputy prime minister Damian Green has been accused of plotting to discredit the woman who accused him of sexually inappropriate behaviour.
The Mail on Sunday has reported on a series of text messages, apparently between Mr Green, 61, and journalist and Conservative activist Kate Maltby, whose allegations against the close ally of Theresa May partly led to his resignation.
Ms Maltby has accused Mr Green of touching her knee at a pub in 2015, and also claims he once sent her a suggestive text message after she was photographed wearing a corset.
The text conversation reported on Sunday suggests she remained in contact with him after she claimed she alerted a Downing Street aide to his behaviour.
Mr Green has been accused of leaking the messages. It is also alleged that the texts were edited to undermine Ms Maltby.
He has denied the allegations.
Conservative minister Anna Soubry attacked Mr Green, saying: "Any attempt to smear or trash [Ms Maltby] was wrong and shameful."
Ms Maltby said on Twitter on Sunday morning that she was considering legal action, after being "forced to consider all recourse".
Mr Green told Sky News: "I have not leaked any material."
Ms Maltby, in an article written for The Sunday Times, made further allegations against Mr Green.
In the piece, she wrote: "In the days before I made my allegation public, I became aware of two young women who were considering making allegations against him (Mr Green). Their positions were more vulnerable, their allegations more serious."
In response to this allegation, Mr Green said: "I have no idea what this refers to, and no such allegations were put to me."
Ms Maltby posted several tweets on Sunday morning in which she claimed the Mail on Sunday had misrepresented her text messages.
Friends of Ms Maltby have told Sky News: "Kate is grateful that the Prime Minister took a strong line on Damian Green and she accepts that Theresa May is serious about combating sexual harassment in Westminster, but the Prime Minister needs to work harder to ensure her MPs do not smear accusers who come forward."
Ms Maltby accused Mr Green of touching her leg while they had a drink in Waterloo in an article in The Times. "I felt a fleeting hand against my knee - so brief, it was almost deniable," she wrote.
Mr Green resigned on Wednesday after a report cleared him of watching or downloading pornography, but found he made two "misleading" and "inaccurate" statements about knowledge of the claims.
The Cabinet Office inquiry found Ms Maltby's claims to be "plausible", but said it was "not possible to reach a definitive conclusion on the appropriateness of Mr Green's behaviour".
Mr Green said he "deeply regretted" the "distress" caused to Ms Maltby and acknowledged that he "clearly made her feel uncomfortable - and for this I apologise".