NEWSFLASH: PM & Justice Neazor Slam Scoop & SST

The Prime Minister has released a report on the SIS Maori bugging affair slamming the coverage of the story by the Sunday Star Times and Scoop.co.nz, and blaming the affair on a trio of “trouble makers”.

The PM said the stories in both the Sunday Star Times and Scoop had “no credibility”. She said she hoped both publications would give the rebuttal as much coverage as they did the initial story and apologise to their readers.

The PM also said that according to Justice Neazor there was no “operation leaf” or anything like it, or for that matter an “operation weasel”.

“The SIS Inspector General has had unrestricted access to SIS files and staff. The story was based on allegations made by people described by the Sunday Star Times as spies. The Inspector General has managed to identify the three people. One of the three was also Scoop’s sole source,” she said.

“In his report the Inspector General found no evidence that these people had any connection to the SIS.”

The Inspector General said he did not believe the claim made by Scoop that its source had, “standing in Government and intelligence circles”.

Justice Neazor said the three people identified were not credit worthy on this matter.

Scoop Co-Editor Selwyn Manning says he will be considering the report carefully and responding in detail in due course.

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