During his presidency, Donald Trump reportedly went to “extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin – at one point even “taking possession” of his own interpreter’s recordings after a conversation with his ally in Moscow. During his term in office, the Republican never explained the reasons for the secrecy.

But questions surrounding the former president’s interactions with the Russian leader after the defeat have taken the scandal to a whole new level. NBC News reported:

At first glance, the allegations are so extraordinary that they sound like outlandish claims that a far-left Trump critic might concoct to ridicule the Republican candidate. However, according to the legendary Washington Post journalist, the events actually happened.

Broadly speaking, the story consists of two elements that have not been independently confirmed by either MSNBC or NBC News. The first is that, according to a source close to the former president, Trump remained in touch with Putin after he left the White House, speaking with the autocrat up to seven times – an average of one off-the-record conversation about every six months.

Why would a former American president feel the need to communicate with Russia’s autocratic leader seven times after leaving office? This seems to be a question that requires an answer.

The second element raised by Woodward is that Trump secretly sent Covid testing equipment to Putin at the height of the pandemic, even though people in his own country were struggling to access such resources.

According to Woodward’s report, Putin specifically instructed Trump to keep this secret. The Republican – who has an unfortunate habit of blurting out information he should keep secret – followed his Russian patron’s instructions.

The former president has called the claims in the book untrue, although, according to the Kremlin, Trump actually – in secret – sent coronavirus testing equipment to Putin at the height of the crisis.

Common sense suggests that the Republican candidate might be somewhat unsettled by the allegations and take steps to distance himself from his Moscow ally. But as the public learned of the story, Trump thought it would be a good idea to once again defend his close relationship with Putin, boasting in an interview with conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro about how well he “got along” with the Russian. be leader.

Chances are Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t want to focus on this four weeks before Election Day, but sometimes candidates need to shift gears and take advantage of opportunities that arise.

With that in mind, the Democratic candidate spoke at length about the controversy in several interviews, and as the day wound down, Harris’ team released a powerful television spot highlighting the allegations.