On Tuesday, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain published documents related to around 30 criminal cases in which Scottish Government ministers had been given information before it was made public.

Bain did so in order to evidence her argument – made in response to allegations of “corruption” from the Scottish Tories and Scottish Labour – that a minute sent to John Swinney on January 19 about the charges against former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell had been standard procedure.

The newly published files show that the First Minister and Justice Secretary have been briefed on a series of other high-profile cases, including the Lockerbie bombing, the Glasgow bin lorry crash, and the death of Sheku Bayoh.

And in July last year – the month in which US president Trump visited Scotland – they were made aware of two further cases.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain

The first related to allegations against a Ukrainian migrant who was said to have “threatened members of Aberdeen City Council but also the president of the United States”.

A memo dated July 18 read: “Volodymyr Soviak, date of birth: [redacted], is a Ukrainian national who arrived in the UK following the outbreak of war between Ukraine and Russia. Little is known about background or domestic circumstances, however he appears to be [redacted], notwithstanding that he is currently employed as a labourer.”

Soviak allegedly sent increasingly threatening emails to Aberdeen council over two years, before Police Scotland were contacted in June 2025. The following month, the force reportedly then “received an email from the accused whereby he made comments regarding President Trump’s attendance in Scotland and preparations for same and including a specific (and unambiguous) threat to the US President and apparent references to chemicals”.

The memo sent to the First Minister goes on: “On 16 July 2025 Mr Soviak was arrested and appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in respect of a contravention of Section 39(1) of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 namely stalking. Within the body of the charge is reference to the threats to the US president.

“Mr Soviak was committed for further examination and remanded in custody. He shall appear at Aberdeen Sheriff Court again on 25 July 2025, the day of the president’s visit to Scotland.

“The president of the US shall not be a witness in the criminal proceedings. The Crown shall liaise with the US Embassy to advise of events and forewarn them in anticipation of media interest.”

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It added: “The Crown will continue to work with Police Scotland and Scottish Government media colleagues to ensure that any media reporting is responsible and to encourage media editors to refrain from publishing or broadcasting any material that may cause a substantial risk of serious prejudice to future proceedings.”

The second memo from July 2025 linked to Trump reference Operation Cordgrass, the codename for the probe into pro-Palestine vandalism at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire.

A memo dated July 24 said: “Between 31 March 2025 and 22 July 2025, eight individuals have appeared in court in respect of the criminal damage caused to the Clubhouse and Golf Course at Turnberry Hotel on 8 March 2025.

File photo of vandalism at the Trump Turnberry golf course (Image: NQ)

“On 23 July 2025, representatives of COPFS and Police Scotland attended at Turnberry Hotel and met with the Scottish representative of Turnberry, [redacted] and holding power of attorney in respect of Turnberry on behalf of [redacted], to provide full information as to the investigation and answer questions from [redacted].”

The files also reveal that Swinney and Justice Secretary Angela Constance were made aware of developments in two other cases in February 2026: Operation Lazer, a police probe into an alleged terrorism-linked Palestine Action attack on an Edinburgh factory in January; and Operation Amphitoky, a National Crime Agency (NCA) / Organised Crime Partnership (OCP) drugs investigation which had found a large-scale manufacturing operation.

They also showed that Swinney was told of the charges against former SNP chief executive Murrell in March 2025, 10 months earlier than previously thought and 11 months before the public.