Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright on Tuesday apologized to Sen. Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneySenate GOP aims to confirm Trump court pick by Oct. 29: report The Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot MORE (R-Utah), saying that he was right to call Russia America's greatest geopolitical foe during the 2012 presidential campaign.

“I personally owe an apology to now Senator Romney, because I think that we underestimated what was going on in Russia,” Albright said during a House Intelligence Committee hearing.

“I was on the CIA external advisory board, there was no question that less money was being put into Russian language and what was going on in Russia.”

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During the 2012 presidential race, former President Obama mocked Romney, then the Republican nominee, for suggesting Russia posed such a large threat.

“The 1980s are now calling and they want their foreign policy back,” Obama retorted during a presidential debate.

Albright, who served under former President Clinton, criticized Romney after the debate and said that he had “little understanding of what is actually going on in the 21st century.”

On Tuesday, Albright acknowledged that the intelligence community was late to recognize that Russia was such a dangerous geopolitical foe.

“We had forgotten we’re dealing with a KGB agent," she told the committee. "I think he has played a weak hand very well.

“Putin has put them back on the scene.”

Olivia Beavers contributed.