Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge says partisanship in the Russian election tampering investigations is distracting Congress from the real villain — Vladimir Putin.

“President Trump talks about winning? Right now, Putin is winning,” Ridge said.

“The rhetoric needs to be toned down,” he said.

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Ridge, a former Republican congressman and governor of Pennsylvania, was the first secretary of Homeland Security after the department was founded in 2002.

In an interview with The Hill, he lamented the escalating controversy over Russia’s interference in the election and the possible “incidental” surveillance of President Trump’s transition team, saying it all plays into the hands of Russia’s president.

“My friends in the intelligence community tell me that as Vladimir Putin, his forte was destabilization — let's create chaos, let's create uncertainty, let's destabilize the political environment. They have done a wonderful job. If that was their goal, they have done it.”

“We see evidence every day. Instead of focusing in on the actor, we're pointing accusatory fingers at each other about politics. We are the victim of this process to delegitimize our self-governance.”

Both Democrats and Republicans pulled focus away from Moscow to varying degrees in recent weeks.

Democrats have focused heavily on potential collusion between the president’s staff and Russia, something the White House adamantly denies.

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Republicans, meanwhile, have focused on potential leaks from the intelligence community, including intercepted calls that former national security advisor Michael Flynn had with a Russian ambassador.

Ridge declined during the presidential campaign to endorse a candidate, though he did criticize President Trump's “bombastic tone” in a U.S. News column. Now he worries that the partisan point scoring that plagued the campaign is affecting Congress’s ability to function.

“This accusatory finger-pointing has been a major distraction to other important issues — we've got a Supreme Court nominee. We've got a healthcare bill. There are conversations about tax reform. But look what we are talking about all of the time?” he said, referring to Russia.

Ridge is now the leader of Ridge Global, a cybersecurity firm that includes Pauline Neville-Jones, the former British minister of state for security and counterterrorism. Howard Schmidt, an influential cybersecurity advisor for both Barack Obama Barack Hussein ObamaThe Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Don't expect a government check anytime soon Trump appointees stymie recommendations to boost minority voting: report Obama's first presidential memoir, 'A Promised Land,' set for November release MORE and George W. Bush, had been working at the firm until his death earlier this month.

Russia’s attempt to meddle in the election has stoked fears about the security of the nation’s voting system. Ridge said he supports the move taken by the Obama administration to classify elections as critical infrastructure — something that has been resisted by state election officials, who fear it could be the first step toward a federalized system.

“I'm a little disappointed that secretaries of state pushed back on it. I don't think they should look at it like a criticism. I think they should look at it like an outreach,” Ridge said.

The critical infrastructure designation gives DHS more tools to help the security of local elections, but not control of them, he said.

In the end, both the critical infrastructure designation and the Russia hearings in Congress are about protecting elections, something he wishes lawmakers would get back to focusing on.

“The leaders of the Intelligence committees, they know what transpired,” he said.