Richard Brooks, the Vice-President for Union Development of the National Union of Students (NUS), has referred himself for review to the NUS UK Board, following a sting operation in which an undercover reporter recorded him discussing his opposition to the presidency of Malia Bouattia.

In the footage, filmed secretly by an Al-Jazeera journalist posing as a member of the group Labour Friends of Israel, Brooks calls Bouattia “a racist” and says that he is organising NUS members against her leadership.

The footage also gave rise to allegations that Brooks had colluded with the Israeli Embassy against Bouattia, claims that he denies.

The day after the footage was released, Brooks put out a defiant statement in which he acknowledged that he was opposed to Bouattia’s leadership but denied having conspired to oust her.

On Thursday morning, he published a letter on social media which he claims to have sent to the NUS UK Board asking them to review him and his actions “against my responsibilities and duties and the code of conduct for officers in NUS.”

In the letter, he states that he has been “abused and harassed” on social media following the allegations, which he notes have ranged from accusations of wishing to bring personal harm to Bouattia, to claims that he has broken the law.

He adds that the abuse continued for 24 hours, and condemns the media persisting in making “accusations that are not true”.

He writes: “I seek to represent my membership and students with the utmost integrity and I believe that my membership should hold me to the same standards and with the same standards and with the same confidence that I seek to hold other political [to] in NUS and other areas of public life.

“That is why I believe any accusations of this nature should be properly investigated and appropriate action taken. I expect to be fully exonerated.”

He concludes: “I hope that a swift and thorough investigation can assure the membership that I have done nothing wrong and that the constant hounding by the press and others will end.”

Bouattia has yet to comment on the controversy.