Health officials feared DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's inaccurate claims that the Northern Ireland Protocol delayed heart surgery would be "repeated for electioneering purposes".
Internal emails seen by Belfast Live show Sir Jeffrey received a letter from a health trust boss dismissing the allegations almost three weeks before he publicly withdrew his remarks.
The trail of correspondence also suggests Sir Jeffrey did not raise his allegations with either the Belfast or Southern Trust before making the claims on a live morning radio programme.
