But the public row between the BBC and Downing Street is now likely to overshadow the work of the committee, which is due to publish its report during the week.
The BBC's eight-page, detailed response was the work of a trio of top executives, led by Dyke.
Dyke, Sambrook and Sambrook's deputy, Mark Damazer, spent most of Friday preparing a forensic response to charges made by Campbell in up to five letters sent to the BBC and in briefings to the parliamentary lobby on Thursday.
Gilligan was relieved but not surprised to be backed by the full force of the corporation, BBC insiders said.
Sources close to the process said the corporation was determined to stand behind its correspondent and that senior news executives viewed the attack by Campbell as an attempt to extract vengeance over the BBC's war coverage.
"There's been a huge volume of complaints from Downing Street about the BBC's war coverage and it's absolutely obvious that it's not just [Gilligan] and this story that's on trial here. It's the whole coverage of the war. That's another reason why the BBC is so furious and determined," said one well-placed source.
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