It's normal to sit up and take notice when someone you hardly know and who is in a position of authority baselessly accuses you of doing something dishonest or unethical, because it's hard to shake the notion that the bad thing you're being accused of is something they are already well acquainted with.
Early in my solo career, I spent a lot of time talking to businessmen in Russia, who invariably would at some point accuse me of taking bribes to write unflattering things about them or their businesses. I soon learned that those individuals were accustomed to paying journalists in their country to write unflattering stories about others.
This reminds me of behavior in various state and federal GOP efforts to "secure" the vote, which has led to a flood of state proposals that effectively make it harder for people to vote, register, or have their vote count. "We can't let them steal this election again" is the refrain, even though it was never stolen in the first place. But it might very well be this time.