Washington (CNN) The head of the Federal Election Commission issued a scathing response Thursday night to President Donald Trump's willingness to receive foreign dirt on political opponents, saying doing so "risks being on the wrong end of a federal investigation."

"Let me make something 100% clear to the American public or anyone running for public office: It is illegal to solicit, accept, or receive anything of value from a foreign national in connection with a U.S. election," Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat, tweeted.

She prefaced the statement on Twitter by writing, "I would not have thought that I needed to say this."

I would not have thought that I needed to say this. pic.twitter.com/T743CsXq79 — Ellen L Weintraub (@EllenLWeintraub) June 13, 2019

Trump came under heavy criticism earlier this week when he told ABC News he would be open to any information from a foreign power and wouldn't necessarily report such an outreach to federal authorities.

"I think you might want to listen, there isn't anything wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, (and said) 'we have information on your opponent' -- oh, I think I'd want to hear it," he said.

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