By AUDREY YOUNG and EUGENE BINGHAM
Dover Samuels is heading for a showdown with the Prime Minister after discovering that she sent a letter to the police containing third-hand, anonymous allegations of heroin smuggling and incest.
Official documents reveal that two days before she sacked Mr Samuels, Helen Clark passed on rumours that he was involved in drug smuggling and told police about unsubstantiated sexual allegations involving his family.
The former Minister of Maori Affairs said last night that he had been cleared of all the allegations, and claimed to have been set up by people making politically motivated smears.
He was furious that Helen Clark secretly sent the letter without allowing him to answer the claims.
The incident is likely to trigger another war of words, and may finally cause him to split from the Labour Party.
Revelations of the existence of the June 26 letter from the Prime Minister to Commissioner Rob Robinson have reopened wounds caused by the handling of unproven allegations that Mr Samuels had an improper sexual relationship with a teenager in the mid-1980s.
The letter was sent two days before the PM sacked Mr Samuels.
The Tai Tokerau MP had earlier stepped down from his ministerial post when police began an inquiry into allegations set out by Act leader Richard Prebble in a letter to Helen Clark.
The Prime Minister said at the time that she accepted Mr Samuels' denial of wrong-doing, and left the way open for him to return to the cabinet if he was not charged.
But within a week, she said Mr Samuels could not be an effective minister while allegations swirled around him.
She sacked him on June 28 and has refused to reinstate him even though police concluded their investigations without laying any charges.
The police file on the inquiry - obtained by Mr Samuels under the Official Information Act - reveals that Helen Clark sent Mr Robinson a detailed letter setting out claims heard by an Auckland businessman she knew.
"He told me he had been phoned by a friend who had for 25 years had a holiday property at Matauri Bay in Northland, where Mr Samuels lives.
"His friend reportedly said he had spent a lot of time over those 25 years at Matauri Bay and knew the local community well," the letter said.
It outlined rumours that Mr Samuels' boat was used for heroin smuggling, that he had committed incest and that he had been involved in incidents featuring threats, firearms and violence.
The letter did not name the businessman or his purported informant.
Helen Clark said last night that she wrote the letter because she had been criticised for not handing over information she knew in January about Mr Samuels' 1980s relationship. "I made it plain that in future, criminal allegations made to me about any member of Parliament would be formally forwarded to the police.
"I did formally refer such allegations about Mr Samuels to the police, as I believe was my duty. I will have no hesitation in referring criminal allegations to the police in future.
"Not to do so invites the criticism that one is suppressing information which may be material to the maintenance of law and order."
She refused to answer questions or make further comment, saying she was following legal advice.
Mr Samuels said loyalty was a two-way street. "I have been loyal - it's a fundamental - and I expect it to be reciprocated."
Samuels furious at PM's rumours
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