The Downing Street press aide who described Dr David Kelly as a "Walter Mitty" character has denied his comments were part of a deliberate smear campaign against the scientist.
Mr Tom Kelly, one of the Prime Minister's two official spokesmen, told the Hutton Inquiry there had been no "malicious" intent in his remark to a journalist following Dr Kelly's death.
But the inquiry also heard evidence that one of Mr Blair's closest aides, Number 10 chief of staff Mr Jonathan Powell, also described Dr Kelly as a "rogue element".
The inquiry is investigating how Dr Kelly apparently came to take his own life after being identified as the source of a BBC story claiming the Government had "sexed up" its Iraq weapons dossier to strengthen the case for war.
At his second appearance before the inquiry, Mr Kelly was pressed by counsel for the Kelly family, Jeremy Gompertz QC, about his remarks to Independentjournalist Mr Paul Waugh and Mr Powell's comments in an e-mail.
Mr Gompertz demanded to know whether they had been part of a deliberate Government campaign to "belittle, demean or slur" Dr Kelly.
Mr Kelly replied: "I was not aware of any explicit or implicit strategy to do so and I was not part of any strategy to do so."