Boris Johnson has admitted he misled parliament over partygate but insisted it was done “in good faith”.
The former prime minister said he had not behaved “recklessly” when he told MPs no Covid rules were broken in Number 10 during lockdown.
His defence came in a 52-page dossier sent to the Commons privileges committee and published on Tuesday.
But despite reports the dossier would contain a “bombshell” proving his innocence, the committee said it contained “no new documentary evidence”.
And it added the full written evidence did not arrive until 8.02am on Tuesday as the original version, submitted on Monday afternoon, contained “a number of errors and typos”.
As prime minister, Johnson repeatedly told the Commons that no Covid rules had been breached in No.10
The committee is investigating whether or not he knew, or should have known, this to be false at the time.
In an interim report earlier this month, the committee said the evidence strongly suggested the rules breaches should have been “obvious” to Johnson.
And according to the MPs, there is evidence Johnson misled the Commons on multiple occasions.
In the dossier, Johnson said: “I accept that the House of Commons was misled by my statements that the Rules and Guidance had been followed completely at No. 10.
“But when the statements were made, they were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed at the time.
“I did not intentionally or recklessly mislead the House on 1 December 2021, 8 December 2021, or on any other date. I would never have dreamed of doing so.”
He added it was “clear” from the committee’s investigation that “there is no evidence at all that supports an allegation that I intentionally or recklessly misled the House”.
Johnson is due to give evidence to the committee during a live TV grilling on Wednesday afternoon,
If found guilty, he could be suspended or expelled from parliament and a by-election could even be triggered in his seat.
If the committee decides Johnson did intentionally or recklessly mislead parliament, it will recommend a sanction.
MPs will then be asked to vote to approve any punishment. The government has indicated Tory MPs will be given a free vote, meaning they will be allowed to side with or against Johnson.