Journalist Bob Woodward said in an Oct. 17 interview with podcaster Tim Miller that Dan Coats, Donald Trump’s former intelligence director, suspected that Russian President Vladimir Putin was blackmailing the Republican candidate

On Miller’s The Bulwark PodcastWoodward discussed speaking to Coats while writing his latest book: Warabout Trump’s relationship with Putin during his presidency and after.

Of the couple’s relationship, which Coats reportedly called an “enigma,” Woodward said: “Coats, who was Trump’s director of national intelligence for two and a half years, all the intelligence agencies, including the CIA, see this. They don’t see it.” He has all the information, but he sees it.

He continued: “This is so strange, it’s so submissive on Trump’s part. When I discussed this with Coats a few months ago, he actually asked, ‘Is this extortion?’ In other words, is Trump being blackmailed?”

Newsweek contacted Woodward by email after hours on Sunday and Coats by email at his law firm, King & Spalding, for comment.

Newsweek He also reached out to the Trump campaign via email outside of business hours on Sunday seeking comment.

Coats, who had already issued warnings about Trump’s behavior since he left office, served as director of national intelligence from 2017 to 2019 before being fired from that position after disagreeing with the then-president on several issues .

Woodward brings up this conversation with Coats in his recently published book, which also includes behind-the-scenes accounts of how President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris dealt with the Ukraine-Russia war and conflict in the Middle East, as well as Trump’s “Running a shadow presidency and trying to regain political power,” said publisher Simon & Schuster.

Shortly after his book was published, it made national headlines when it revealed new information about Trump’s relationship with Putin, alleging, in addition to suspicions of extortion, that the former president had secretly sent Putin COVID-19 tests during the pandemic.

Woodward also wrote about Trump’s alleged ongoing relationship with Putin after the presidency, saying that he has spoken to the Russian leader at least seven times since leaving office and once asked a Trump aide at Mar-a-Lago to visit his office to leave The two could have a private telephone conversation.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, confirmed Woodward’s reports about the COVID-19 tests, while Trump called the claims false.

However, Peskov denied the alleged continued contact between the former US president and the Russian leader, saying: “We also sent equipment (to combat COVID) to the United States at the beginning of the pandemic. But as for phone calls, that’s not true.”

In a previous statement on Newsweek Regarding Woodward’s claims, Trump communications director Steven Cheung said: “None of these fabricated stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly insane and deranged man suffering from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

In his interview with Miller, Woodward also discussed Russia’s nuclear threat, comparisons of Trump and Richard Nixon, Harris’ warnings to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and more.

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