Nicola Sturgeon has said she has not heard if police want to interview her or her husband Peter Murrell as part of an investigation into her party’s finances.
The First Minister said she would not comment on the ongoing probe but denied any knowledge about a potential interview with authorities.
Police Scotland and the Crown Office are investigating how £600,000 of funding raised by the SNP for campaigning has been spent.
Asked by Sky News if she had heard about a potential interview with police, Sturgeon said: “No. I wouldn’t comment on any ongoing police investigation and I am not going to comment on this one.”
The First Minister added the investigation played no part in her decision to step down as First Minister.
Her comments come a week after the SNP announced it had lost around 30,000 party members since 2021.
Speaking to ITV News on Monday, Sturgeon said she was not aware the party had lost so many members.
“I don’t track party membership every day, week or month,” she said.
“We declined in membership from a very, very high point post the independence referendum.
“That’s for a variety of reasons. It’s partly politics and issues, it’s partly people in busy lives forgetting to sign up.”
The row over the party’s membership led to the resignation of Sturgeon’s husband who quit on Sunday with immediate effect after taking responsibility for misleading the media over the losses.
The party previously denied reports it had lost 30,000 members, saying they were wrong “by about 30,000”.
On Monday, Sturgeon said her husband didn’t mean to mislead journalists.
She said: “He [Murrell] didn’t intend to mislead. But the handling of that situation, the framing of our response to media enquiries, which were quite specific media enquiries, had we lost membership in response to the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, delays on indyref2.
“The framing of that gave the effect of having a misleading position and that wasn’t an intentional thing but he has taken responsibility for that.
“He was intending to step down as chief executive when I stood down as leader but has decided to do that now.”
The resignation of Sturgeon’s husband as chief executive came just after the party’s head of press, Murray Foote, resigned.
Foote said he issued agreed party responses to the media which “created a serious impediment” to his role.
Asked if Murrell misled Foote over the membership numbers, Sturgeon said her husband had “taken responsibility for what was not an intention to mislead”.
Police Scotland has been approached for comment.
You can watch the full interview on ITV News at Ten on STV at 10pm on Monday.
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