Mr Rhodes said the Australia Federal Police requested him to fly to Sydney to interview Tuffey in December 2013. He said he was aware the AFP had an "interest" in Tuffey but had "shared very little information" with the ACSU.
The interview with Tuffey was held in a café inside the Rydges Hotel and AFP representatives sat at a table 20 or 30 metres away, said Mr Rhodes. He did not take notes of the conversation because it was not of "any significance".
Under cross-examination by Mr Pownall, he denied mentioning the Australian Crime Commission or money laundering to Tuffey.
Mr Rhodes also denied a suggestion from Mr Pownall that he offered Tuffey a "deal to point the finger at Chris Cairns".
Mr Pownall then asked Mr Rhodes if he told Tuffey: "You do not want to go with these guys [the AFP], make a statement and move on?"
The ACSU officer said he told Tuffey, whom he described as a "fine young man", needed to make a "decision about the information he had, if he had any".
Crown prosecutor Sasha Wass QC told Mr Rhodes the suggestion was that he put pressure on Tuffey to give information against Cairns, or that he was trying to coerce a witness.
"That's completely incorrect...My job is to combat corruption, not try to get evidence by any means possible," said Mr Rhodes.
Tuffey was never charged by the Met Police or called as a witness at the trial, by either the Crown or lawyers for Cairns.
Mr Pownall also asked why Mr Rhodes had interviewed Daryl Tuffey and not Chris Cairns at this point.
He agreed that Cairns called him in February 2014 and asked to arrange a meeting.
According to Mr Rhodes' notes from the conversation, Cairns said: "I can't work, I can't pay my bills, my wife is crying...I feel like a leper when I go out and you guys are ruining my life".
Mr Rhodes said that he understood Cairns' position but he was not able to interview him until they had completed the investigation.
"Let me make this very clear," said Mr Rhodes, "I wanted to speak with Chris Cairns."
- Jared Savage in London
