An investigation into politician Damian Green, the U.K.’s First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office, has led to his resignation.
According to Independent, officials leading the probe found it “plausible” Green had sexually harassed a Conservative activist, and that he made “inaccurate and misleading” statements regarding pornography that he been found on his parliamentary computer in 2008. As a result, Prime Minister Theresa May issued a letter on Dec. 20 asking Green to resign.
The investigation, led by a senior Whitehall official from the Cabinet Office, was opened after activist Kate Maltby said Green had “fleetingly” touched her knee during a meeting at a pub in 2015. Maltby also said that he sent her a “suggestive” text message a year later after she was printed in a newspaper wearing a corset. The investigation summary said the allegations were “plausible,” but that the “appropriateness” of Green’s behavior couldn’t be determined. After Maltby’s allegations, Green wrote that he regretted distressing the activist, but maintained that her claims were false.
While the probe was launched for Maltby’s claims, it later pivoted to allegations of Green having pornography on his computer when he was arrested and had his office raided by police in 2008 on suspicion of leaking documents to the public. Green has denied downloading or viewing the pornography on his work computer, and previously said police “never suggested to me that improper material was found,”
The investigation report concluded that Green had made inaccurate and misleading statements on Nov. 4 and 11 suggesting he was “not aware” that pornography had been found on his parliamentary computer in 2008. The Metropolitan Police Service, however, disclosed it had previously informed Green that this material existed.
“These statements therefore fall short of the honesty requirement of the Seven Principles of Public Life and constitute breaches of the Ministerial Code. Mr. Green accepts this,” the report read.
In her letter to Green, May wrote that she was “extremely sad,” lamenting their time working alongside each other in the House of Commons and through her terms as prime minister. And while May understood the “considerable distress” that the allegations had brought him, she still held a “commitment to maintaining the high standards which the public demands of Ministers of the Crown.”
“It is therefore with deep regret, and enduring gratitude for the contribution you have made over many years, that I asked you to resign from the Government and have accepted your resignation,” May wrote.
In his resignation letter, Green said he could have been more clear about how he knew about the pornography, writing that his lawyers were informed by police in 2008, and had brought up the topic with him in 2013, according to BBC News.
“I apologize that my statements were misleading on this point,” Green wrote.
Green’s departure is the third May has experienced in the past two months, following the resignations of Sir Michael Fallon for sexually harassing a journalist; and Secretary of State for International Development Priti Patel for holding secret meetings in Israel. Mark Garnier, a junior minister, is still under investigation for allegations that he sexually harassed an aide and asked her to purchase sex toys for him.
