Two Police Federation officials accused of giving a false account of a meeting with ex-government chief whip and Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell over the so-called Plebgate affair should face disciplinary action.
Watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said inspector Ken Mackaill, of West Mercia Police, and detective sergeant Stuart Hinton, of Warwickshire Police, should be charged with gross misconduct.
The commission decided a third officer, sergeant Chris Jones, had no case to answer.
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The officers met Mr Mitchell in his Sutton Coldfield constituency office in October 2012 following reports he had sworn at officers who refused to let him cycle though the main gate of Downing Street and called them plebs.
Afterwards, Mr Mackaill told journalists Mr Mitchell, who was subsequently forced to quit the Government, had refused to elaborate on what had happened in the street and should resign.
However, his account was called into question when a recording of the meeting was broadcast by Channel 4's Dispatches programme.
The three officers subsequently faced further criticism over evidence they gave to MPs when they appeared before the Commons Home Affairs Committee in October 2013.
In a letter to Mr Mitchell, IPCC commissioner Carl Gumsley said: "I have concluded that there is a case to answer for two of the officers involved for gross misconduct."
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Mr Gumsley said that his recommendation in respect of Mr Mackaill had been accepted by West Mercia Police but Warwickshire Police had challenged his ruling in relation to Mr Hinton, arguing that he should face a lesser charge.
He said that, if the force continued to reject his recommendation, he would have to consider whether to direct that a disciplinary hearing was held.
An IPCC spokesman confirmed the commission had now completed its investigation into the conduct of the three officers concerned.
"An investigation report was sent to the chief constables of West Mercia, Warwickshire and West Midlands Police in May 2015," the spokesman said.
"The forces responded, setting out what action they considered appropriate to take in response to the report.
"Following consideration of the appropriateness of these responses, the IPCC has made a formal recommendation to one of the forces as to what action the IPCC considers they should take.
"We intend to make the outcomes public when final decisions have been made in relation to all of the officers."
A spokesman for the Police Federation said it could not comment while the case was still ongoing.