Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine says the leaked audio recording came to his attention two months before it was leaked.
During a press briefing this morning, he claimed that a contractor attempted to blackmail him with it in exchange for resuming payment on questionable contracts (for which payment was halted) while the contracts were under review.
Augustine named the contractor as Warner Construction.
This is the same company which was linked with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley when the UNC claimed that Dr Rowley failed to declare the discount given to him on a multi-million dollar condo in a development built by Warner Construction.
Augustine acknowledged that the audio was authentic, but stated that it was taken out of context.
He said it was part of political strategic discussions over a year ago, but was decided against.