British Prime Minister Tony Blair stepped into a row over his wife's links to a convicted conman today, saying there had been no political interference in the fraudster's dealings with the law.
Writing in response to questions from Conservative opposition leader Mr Iain Duncan Smith, Mr Blair said the matter had been handled "entirely properly".
Mrs Blair has been under pressure for more than a week after a national newspaper reported that Australian fraudster Peter Foster helped her buy two flats in Bristol.
Foster has been convicted in several countries for peddling bogus slimming teas and using fraudulent documents, and is wanted in Australia in connection with another weight loss scam.
Downing Street press officers at first denied Foster was involved in the property deal but were forced to change tack last Thursday after leaked e-mail traffic proved he was.
Mrs Blair then made a statement in which she took the blame for what she called a "misunderstanding" between the government's press office and the media.
The affair has sparked a row over the trustworthiness of the prime minister's press office and has threatened to tarnish the reputation of Mr Blair's government.
Earlier today it emerged that Mrs Blair, a high-profile barrister and part-time judge, contacted Foster's solicitors last month to discuss deportation proceedings against him.
The solicitor's firm, Janes, said Mrs Blair rang on November 22nd to ask if the proceedings "were being conducted on a regular and normal basis".
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed the phone call had been made but emphatically denied Mrs Blair had attempted to interfere in the case, saying she was only trying to help her friend and style guru Ms Carole Caplin - Foster's girlfriend.
"At no point did she interfere in the immigration case proceedings nor would she," the Downing Street spokesman said. Janes confirmed Cherie had not intruded in the case.