In February 2005, it was reported in "The Times" that Lamont and John Major had held up the release of papers concerning Black Wednesday under the Freedom of Information Act. The two wrote to the paper to deny the reports. Later it emerged that the source of the story had been Damian McBride, then a Treasury civil servant who as a result of this became a special adviser to the then Chancellor, Gordon Brown who in 2009 resigned from a similar position in Number 10 Downing Street following publication of emails indicating a plan to smear leading Conservative politicians.