Nick Clegg hits back after miner ENRC tried to pull him into legal battle
Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has hit back at allegations he requested information on a company which later became a client of his wife’s law firm.
Lawyers for Clegg, who led the Liberal Democrats during the last coalition government, said the allegations from miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) were not backed up by facts, the Sunday Times reported.
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They rejected the company's request for evidence.
The firm alleges that Clegg asked the Foreign office for information about a fraud investigation into ENRC.
The company is locked in a legal dispute with law firm Dechert, where Clegg’s wife Miriam Gonzalez was a partner.
It has been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office since 2013 over potential bribery and corruption.
Gonzalez’s firm carried out an internal investigation for ENRC, but is now being sued by the firm.
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Clegg’s lawyers said the allegations against him rested on “triple hearsay from an anonymous source purporting to describe the grandiose statements of an intoxicated person, and an ambiguous letter”.
The Cabinet Office wrote to Clegg saying it found “no record of you having asked for or received briefing on [ENRC]” the Sunday Times said.