Former Labour leader Wendy Alexander was today cleared of accusations she breached official rules.
The Paisley North MSP issued a statement in February announcing she was being investigated over donations to her leadership campaign.
A complaint was lodged with the Scottish Parliamentary Standards Commissioner that by making it public she broke
the rules.
Commissioner Jim Dyer ruled against Ms Alexander but a Holyrood committee rejected the findings today.
Mr Dyer had found her in breach of two areas of the code of conduct for members.
The rules specify that no member can publicise any complaint at the early stages of the process.
Robert Brown MSP, convener of the standards, procedures and public appointments committee, said he was not able to agree the commissioner's findings and did not agree there was any breach.
The decision comes just weeks after MSPs rejected sanctions to suspend Ms Alexander from parliament for one day.
The committee had voted for the ban in June to punish Ms Alexander for breaking rules on campaign donations.
Ms Alexander said she had acted in "good faith" and on the written advice of the parliamentary authorities, blaming the SNP for the "vexatious" attack.
Ms Alexander welcomed the latest decision and said: "Once again common sense has prevailed and a dubious complaint has been thrown out.
"Hopefully the wide-ranging review initiated by the Presiding Officer in response to these complaints will ensure that it can never happen again."
The investigation was prompted by SNP activist Andrew Harlick.
A Labour spokesperson said: "This case was another example of a dubious referral to the standards committee by a member of the SNP.
"Significant public money has been wasted on dragging out an SNP-inspired investigation over eight months into a one-page press release.
"This decision also stands as a warning to the SNP. The Parliament's time and public money should not be wasted on politically inspired investigations, malicious complaints and continuous mud slinging."
Mr Dyer said it was "unusual" for the committee to reach a different conclusion from his own.
The full article contains 350 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
