Dick Morris, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton who later became a conservative pundit, thinks recent critiques of the Obama administration made by former official Leon Panetta were orchestrated by Hillary Clinton.

"What Panetta is doing is a hit – a contract killing – for Hillary," Morris said during an interview Sunday on billionaire John Catsimatidis' show "The Cats Roundtable" on New York's AM970 radio.

Panetta served in the Clinton White House before joining the Obama administration as CIA director and secretary of defense. While promoting his new book, "Worthy Fights," this month, Panetta has criticized President Barack Obama's handling of Syria and the jihadist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS and ISIL).

"Panetta at core is a Clinton person, not an Obama person. By accurately and truthfully describing the deliberations in the [Obama] cabinet, he makes Hillary look better, and he makes Obama look worse. And I think Hillary … put him up to it," said Morris.

The arguments Panetta makes concerning the president's handling of ISIS echo the only major critique of the administration Hillary Clinton has made since leaving her position as Obama's secretary of state last year. Similarities between their arguments and the fact Hillary Clinton is widely expected to run for president in 2016 have led multiple members of Obama's inner circle to suspect Panetta has been attempting to help her distance herself from critiques of the present administration's handling of the situation in Syria.