Whale Oil breaks an alleged scandal

Whale Oil has a story from Stephen Cook (ex Herald on Sunday) with allegations from an employee of an affair with Auckland Mayor .

Obviously they are allegations, and there are often two sides to a story. However the woman has provided a sworn affidavit (which is a serious offence if false) backing up the allegations, and also it seems has retained some text messages.

This is an explosive story, and again we are yet to hear if the allegations are denied or not.

In terms of whether there is a public interest in the allegations, my answer would be there isn't if she wasn't a Council employee and any (alleged) encounters took place away from the Council. But if the allegations are correct, and they involve a Council employee on Council premises – that is harder to pass off as no public interest.

I have no first hand knowledge of the allegations beyond what has been reported, and the fact that a sworn affidavit has been provided. The allegations are incredibly detailed and specific.

UPDATE: The Herald now is running a story.

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