“I have nothing to answer for because I did not engage in any activity to cover up anything or to do anything that was untoward,” Poots said.
The former DUP leader added: “It was not my role to do something which she clearly and specifically said she didn’t want taken further.”
Poots also said he had asked the assembly’s chief executive to conduct an investigation in relation to Donaldson’s time in the assembly.
“This is an investigation which would allow potential victims of abuse by Jeffrey Donaldson to come forward.”
Poots said he would also urge head of the Civil Service, Jayne Brady, and the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to launch similar investigations.
On Friday, BBC Spotlight reported that not long before Donaldson became DUP leader in 2021, the then-North Antrim MP Ian Paisley said he was approached by a young woman who said she had been exploited by Donaldson and that he should not be allowed to lead the party.
Paisley said the woman did not want to make a formal complaint but he said he told Poots, when he was elected leader.
Paisley described her as a “victim” in a text to another politician during the DUP leadership contest between Donaldson and Poots in 2021.
In response, Poots told BBC Spotlight: “We observed at all times the wishes of the young woman.”
