The minister, Linda Reynolds, retracted the remark made in private after lawyers for the former aide, Brittany Higgins, sent a letter last week to Ms. Reynolds demanding a public apology for the “demeaning and belittling” comment. Last week, Ms. Reynolds issued a formal apology, saying she had never questioned Ms. Higgins’s account. On Friday, in a short public statement, the minister retracted the comment, which, she said, she had “never intended” to make public. “I did not mean it in the sense that it has been understood,” Ms. Reynolds said. It was not immediately clear how much Ms. Reynolds agreed to pay in damages.

Source: New York Times March 12, 2021 12:00 UTC