At a Foundation for Defense of Democracies event on Thursday, former Trump White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said it is “absolutely not” appropriate for President Donald Trump to “solicit” election interference from a foreign government.

He pointed out that it is up to the Congress to decide if the president did so.

A reporter asked, “Is it appropriate for the president of the United States to solicit foreign interference in our political process?”

McMaster said, “Of course not. No, it’s absolutely not. And of course, what has to happen here is seeing our democracy play out, our separation of powers play out. And for the American people, through their representatives in Congress, to make a judgment of whether that happened.”

He added, “To answer your question directly, of course, it is not appropriate.”

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