EDMONTON -- Alberta Premier Alison Redford is facing calls to step down and be cited for contempt of the legislature.

Redford says she told the truth about not picking her ex-husband's law firm to handle the Alberta government's lawsuit against big tobacco while she was justice minister in 2010.

However, newly released department memos and documents indicate that Redford made the decision and that the winner and losers were formally notified while she was still in the job.

The government says what's important is that the deal was finalized by Redford's successor as justice minister, Verlyn Olson.

Olson says when he took over as justice minister, the department was dealing with just one firm on the tobacco lawsuit, International Tobacco Recovery Lawyers.

But he says that doesn't mean International Tobacco Recovery Lawyers had been chosen.

NDP Leader Brian Mason calls it one of the most serious situations he has ever seen affecting a premier.

Wildrose house leader Rob Anderson says it's the biggest scandal in the premier's office in his lifetime.