New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said Monday that the presidential election was "illegitimate" and "tainted" by both Russian President Vladimir Putin and FBI Director James Comey.

"So this was a tainted election," Krugman, also an economics professor at the City University of New York, wrote in his semiweekly column. "It was not, as far as we can tell, stolen in the sense that votes were counted wrong, and the result won’t be overturned.

"But the result was nonetheless illegitimate in important ways; the victor was rejected by the public, and won the Electoral College only thanks to foreign intervention and grotesquely inappropriate, partisan behavior on the part of domestic law enforcement."

He goes on to argue that outside forces both international and domestic helped swing the election against Democrat Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDemocratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida The Hill's Campaign Report: Presidential polls tighten weeks out from Election Day More than 50 Latino faith leaders endorse Biden MORE and for Republican Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE.

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"Did the combination of Russian and F.B.I. intervention swing the election? Yes. Mrs. Clinton lost three states — Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — by less than a percentage point, and Florida by only slightly more," Krugman wrote.

"If she had won any three of those states, she would be president-elect. Is there any reasonable doubt that Putin/Comey made the difference?"

Krugman has been one of Trump's harshest critics since the businessman announced his candidacy, once comparing him to Benito Mussolini, the former Italian fascist dictator.