Slippery Boris Johnson will on Wednesday try to wriggle off the hook over bombshell Partygate claims which could torpedo his political career.
The desperate ex-Prime Minister will be hauled before the Commons Privileges Committee for a four-hour showdown that could ultimately lead to him being ousted as an MP.
He faces allegations he misled Parliament when he denied coronavirus lockdown rules were broken when parties were held in No10 - first exposed by the Mirror.
The shamed former Premier is expected to launch a last-ditch defence claiming advisers told him rules were followed - even though he was at some of the lockdown-busting, boozy bashes parties and was fined by police for breaking rules he imposed.
Mr Johnson is expected to rely on the loophole that Downing Street parties were “work meetings” - and therefore allowed.
He finally handed his defence dossier to MPs on Monday, outlining why he denies deliberately misleading Parliament.
A committee spokesman said: “The Committee of Privileges can confirm it received written evidence from Boris Johnson MP at 2.32pm on Monday.
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“The Committee will need to review what has been submitted in the interests of making appropriate redactions to protect the identity of some witnesses.
“The Committee intends to publish this as soon as is practicably possible.
“The material will be published on the Committee website.”
The file, said to be 60 pages long, is expected to be published on Tuesday.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman claimed: “The Privileges Committee will vindicate Boris Johnson’s position.
“The evidence will show that Boris Johnson did not knowingly mislead Parliament.”
His case is expected to focus on several areas, including claiming the inquiry is illegal.
He is said to have received legal advice that MPs should only decide whether he “deliberately” misled Parliament, rather than was “reckless” as to whether he was telling the truth.
He is also expected to target Partygate probe civil servant Sue Gray, who has been lined up as Labour leader Keir Starmer ’s chief of staff - triggering claims her investigation was biased.
Mr Johnson, who was pictured behind bars as he and wife Carrie celebrated her 35th birthday at Port Lympne Zoo’s Treehouse Hotel at the weekend, is expected to brandish messages from No10 staff telling him rules were not breached.
He is poised to claim he relied on the advice when he answered questions in the Commons “in good faith”.
He could also claim he worked on the “general assumption” events were permitted.
The Committee can sanction the ex-PM if MPs decide he lied.
If they recommend a suspension of at least 10 sitting days, a recall petition would be triggered.
If 10% of voters in his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency want him out, a by-election is called.
But any sanction must be approved by the Commons.
The Government’s former top law officer warned Mr Johnson has “a lot of explaining to do”. Ex-Attorney General Dominic Grieve told Sky News: “Mr Johnson certainly does appear to have a considerable problem - he attended some of the gatherings which were parties, and yet he said that there weren’t any gatherings.
“And it’s a bit difficult therefore to understand how he didn’t know that there had been parties going on at No10 Downing Street.”
He added: “Mr Johnson’s got a lot of explaining to do, and of course that is against the background of somebody who has a serial reputation for telling untruths whenever it suits him.”
Meanwhile, an elections expert said Mr Johnson returning to No10 could hammer the Tories’ poll ratings even more.
Conservative peer Lord Robert Hayward suggested the party would be “finished” if it changed leader again before the next general election - expected in 2024.
“It would be an utter joke," he said.
“The electorate would not accept another change.”
Asked whether bringing back the ex-PM could transform the party’s electoral fortunes - as his allies claim - he warned: “It would transform it in a negative way, not in a positive way.
“Having had two different prime ministerial changes last year, there is no credibility whatsoever that we would have another one and not say the Tory Party is finished.”
He added: “The population have not parked Partygate - they still view it as a Tory Party matter but they are viewing it as a Boris matter.”
