UK's Boris Johnson awaits judgment of 'partygate' report

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been shadowed by career-threatening scandal for months — but so far he has escaped unscathed.

This week he faces one more threat to his political future: a comprehensive report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices that is expected to be published within days.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray is due to release her findings on “partygate,” the scandal over more than a dozen gatherings in Johnson’s No. 10 Downing St. residence and nearby buildings that took place when coronavirus restrictions barred people in Britain from mixing with others.

Claims that Johnson and his staff enjoyed illegal office parties while millions in the country stuck to strict COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 have dogged Johnson’s Conservative government since they first surfaced late last year. Critics, including some within Johnson’s own ranks, have called for him to resign.

Police investigated and said last week they had issued a total of 126 fines to 83 people. Most are thought to be junior staffers, but one 50-pound ($60) fine went to Johnson, for attending a surprise birthday party thrown for him in June 2020. That made him the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.

Johnson apologized, but insisted that he didn't knowingly break the rules, saying “it did not occur to me” that the brief gathering was a party — a claim that drew derision from many.

Police didn't identify those who were fined, but Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, as well as Johnson’s wife, Carrie, have said they also paid fines for attending Johnson’s birthday party.

While “partygate” threatened to topple Johnson’s leadership earlier this year, he has clung on to power, partly because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine...