Three days later, The Australian wrote an article about a fiery series of emails McWilliam sent to Samios, but it did not go into detail about the allegations against Sunrise staff and did not name Pell or the other Sunrise staff.

Seven went to ground on Wednesday following the publication of details about the Sunrise contra investigation, codenamed Project Rally.

The investigation uncovered evidence that the Sunrise employees may have gained “personal benefits”, including accommodation provided free of charge at hotels in Beverly Hills, New York and Sydney and free business and economy class Qantas flights within Australia.

Project Rally was unable to make conclusive findings because Seyfarth Shaw had been told by the network to conduct “no interviews” with Sunrise staff and was prevented from accessing further records due to the “sensitivity of the matter” and the desire to avoid “tipping off those involved”.

Had this been done, sources close to Pell, with knowledge of the matter, told this masthead that he would have insisted any questionable use of company resources was unintentional and that any free travel or accommodation was connected to work, even if it was booked during holiday leave.

McWilliam’s later emails to Samios stated Pell had “discretionary” use over Sunrise’s contra resources in any event.

McWilliam on Wednesday sent a statement to several journalists downplaying the story and denying he shared a sensitive photograph of an injured Pell without permission.

“In short, I make no excuse for having acted to protect a colleague against whom false allegations were being made,” McWilliam said.

Pell, who now lives in Los Angeles and recently left Seven, has expressed horror and surprise at McWilliam’s unsanctioned use of the image and McWilliam’s assertion that Samios had caused Pell to self-harm, according to those close to him.

Meanwhile, the Australian Financial Review reported on Wednesday that Mark Llewellyn, the executive producer of embattled current affairs program Spotlight, has engaged employment lawyer John Laxon ahead of a potential exit from the company.

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Both Laxon and Llewellyn declined to comment.

The program is set to return this Sunday at 8.45pm, with a special on weight loss drug Ozempic. A promo for the episode, which features prominent public relations figure Roxy Jacenko, aired on Wednesday.

The recent inflammation of tensions at Seven, including scrutiny of Llewellyn, was triggered by the controversial appointment of a former Spotlight chief of staff Steve Jackson to a role at the head of NSW Police’s influential media unit.

Jackson was the fourth person tasked to help Commissioner Karen Webb with media since she was appointed in late 2021. The third was sacked in the wake of Webb’s poor handling of her public response to the alleged murders of two men by a serving police officer.

However, police tore up Jackson’s six-month contract before he began the job, citing external distractions.

On Wednesday, police said Adam Wallace, a senior media advisor at NSW Health, had been seconded for three months to act as media advisor to the police executive, including the commissioner.

He will answer to the acting executive director of public affairs, a serving police officer.

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