Martha Stewart's lawyers were expected to meet yesterday's deadline to hand over documents requested by a Congressional committee investigating alleged insider trading at ImClone, the biotechnology company, according to sources close to the inquiry.

Ms Stewart's compliance with the request has been closely watched because committee members have said her level of co-operation will determine whether they ask her to testify publicly about her sale of nearly 4,000 ImClone shares last December.

The sale has raised suspicions because it was made the day before the Food and Drug Administration rejected the company's cancer drug, Erbitux.

Ms Stewart has denied any wrongdoing. But such an appearance could further tarnish her image.

Shares in her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, have tumbled since the scandal erupted.

Authorities arrested her friend Mr Sam Waksal, the former ImClone chief executive, in June for allegedly trying to sell his shares and tipping off family members before the FDA announcement.

The documents the committee requested include e-mails and other communications between Ms Stewart and her business manager.

They have asked for the materials amid doubts about Ms Stewart's version of events. Her story has been tweaked repeatedly to cover inconsistencies, according to people familiar with the investigation.

One source of interest is whether Ms Stewart received messages about ImClone on her laptop while on a flight to Mexico the day she unloaded her sales.

During a June appearance on CBS's The Early Show, when host Jane Clayson tried to engage her in a discussion of the ImClone sale, Ms Stewart said: "I want to focus on my salad", adding that she would be "exonerated of any ridiculousness". - (Financial Times Service)