President Obama's Defense Secretary said that they probably violated long-standing norms, but not the law.

Leon Panetta, President Obama’s former Secretary of Defense, told NBC’s Chuck Todd on Friday that it was a “stretch” to say the Trump transition team broke the law with their contacts with the Russians.

“We have one administration at a time,” Panetta said, warning that the Trump transition team undermined long-standing political norms in the United States by engaging in diplomacy while the Obama administration was still in office.

However, the former defense secretary doubted that dealings with the Russians rose to the level of criminal violations.

“[Their contact with Russia] was very unusual. Whether it breaks the law or not, I think that’s probably a stretch,” Panetta predicted.