Ex police chief Bob Quick today threatened to sue Damian Green as the pair’s feud over allegations the minister viewed porn on his office computer took a fresh twist.
The former Met Police assistant commissioner said Mr Green must ‘publicly retract’ allegations he had lied about what was found on the office computer.
He accused Mr Green – Theresa May’s de facto deputy – of mounting an ‘unpleasant and deeply personal attack upon me’ and trying to ‘discredit him.
And he warned that unless the First Secretary of State publicly apologises he will consider legal action.
The pair have been embroiled in a bitter row over allegations Mr Green has enormous amounts on ‘extreme’ porn on his office computer when it was raided by police in 2008.
Former police chief Bob Quick (pictured left) has today threatened to sue Cabinet Minister Damian Green (pictured right outside his home this morning) unless the minister retracts his claims he is a liar
Mr Green is battling to salvage his Cabinet career and is being investigated for over the claims. The report is expected to report back within days.
The allegations surfaced last month as the sex harassment scandal swept through Westminster.
Mr Green put out a statement strongly denying the claim and branding and accusing Mr Quick of being a ‘tainted and untrustworthy’ source who had long-running vendetta against him.
But in a dramatic escalation of their row, Mr Quick today launched a strongly worded attack against Mr Green which piles further pressure on the embattled minister.
NINE-YEAR GRUDGE MATCH BETWEEN QUICK AND GREEN
The Tories put out footage of the 2008 raid on Damian Green’s office
Damian Green and Bob Quick crossed swords in 2008 when the Met assistant commissioner took dramatic action in an inquiry into leaks from the force.
Mr Quick decided to arrest then then shadow immigration minister.
The Tory MP was held for nine hours while his Commons office, two homes and constituency office, were searched and computers removed by counter-terrorism officers.
The episode sparked a huge inquest at the Commons into whether parliamentary privilege should have protected the material held by an MP.
In the ensuing political storm, it emerged Mr Quick’s wife was running a car hire firm from their home and details of their address were published on a website.
The officer then accused the Tories of being ‘wholly corrupt’ in leaking the story to intimidate him and his investigation.
But he was forced to apologise after then party leader David Cameron said the claim ‘Tory machinery’ was mobilised against his investigation was ‘completely baseless’.
Mr Green was later cleared of any wrongdoing. Mr Quick complained bitterly that the investigation cost him his career.
He quit in April 2009 after being photographed arriving at Downing Street with documents detailing a counter-terror operation clearly visible. He later claimed he might have survived the gaffe if it had not been for the Green affair.
He said: ‘Damian Green called me a liar in the statement he tweeted on 4 November 2017. That is completely untrue.
‘Everything I have said is accurate, in good faith, and in the firm belief that I have acted in the public interest.’
He added: ‘I wish to make it clear for the avoidance of any doubt or further speculation that I am in no way motivated politically and bear no malice whatsoever to Damian Green.
‘This is despite unfortunate and deeply hurtful attempts to discredit me. Everything I have said about this matter has been in good faith, and in the firm belief that I have acted in the public interest.
‘I invite Damian Green publicly to retract his allegations against me. I am considering legal action.’
It was claimed last month that vast amounts of extreme porn was found on one of Mr Green’s office computer’s when it was raided in 2008.
The raid was highly controversial at the time, as Mr Green – then shadow immigration minister – had been embarrassing the police with a series of leaks.
But the allegations about what was found on his computer were only levelled by former officers after the standards investigation was launched.
Mr Green has flatly denied viewing pornography at work, while allies said he was ‘gobsmacked’ that police were being allowed to make ‘outlandish smears’ against him.
But his war with the police escalated when ex-detective Neil Lewis publicly backed Mr Quick and said he found ‘thousands’ of pornographic images on the computer.
In his statement today, Mr Quick said everything he has done has been ‘in good faith ‘and ‘in the firm belief I acted in the public interest’.
He said that during the 2008 investigation it was reported to him and other senior officers that a ‘vast amount’ of porn was discovered on a computer in Mr Green’s parliamentary office.
He said he was told that internet history data logs indicated that the material had been viewed ‘prolifically and in working hours’.
Mr Quick said he told Sue Gray, the Cabinet Office’s head of ethics, about the porn after news broke that Mr Green was being investigated over a separate claim he made an unwanted pass at a female Tory activist.
He denied leaking the story to the Sunday Times and insisted his actions were not politically motivated.
A spokesman for Mr Green said: ‘It would be inappropriate for Mr Green to comment while the Cabinet Office inquiry is ongoing and while the Metropolitan Police is investigating the conduct of former officers.’
Scotland Yard chief Cressida Dick yesterday said former officers were ‘wrong’ to be using confidential material from the raid to try and oust him.
Theresa May, pictured outside No10 today with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. It would be a major blow for the PM if she lost her trusted de facto deputy to the scandal