A party official in the constituency and six Tory MPs also told the journalists that they saw no evidence of Mrs. Duncan Smith working for her husband during the 15-month period in question.
[1] Crick's report was expected to go out on the Thursday before the Conservative Party conference but it was vetoed at the last minute by BBC executives, who were nervous about running the story for fear that the information had come from people with an interest in the downfall of IDS.
[1] Crick was forced to first present his case to the accused for his comments, and then laid out the details of his investigation to the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges, at the request of lawyers of IDS.
[2] An email written in January 2003 by Vanessa Gearson, who was working in Duncan Smith's office (and was later the Conservative candidate for Cheltenham at the 2005 general election), expressed concern that the allowance might become the subject of a journalistic (newspaper or television) exposé.
Nevertheless, Duncan Smith laid the blame for his downfall completely at MacGregor's and Gearson's feet, and threatened to resign the party whip if either were ever again able to stand as Conservative candidates.