On CNN’s OutFront with Erin Burnett, former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called out President Donald Trump’s recent comments about accepting campaign assistance from foreign governments as “a violation of the oath of office.”

Trump set off a firestorm earlier this week after ABC News broadcast an interview between him and This Week host George Stephanopoulos, in which the president indicated ambivalence about contacting the FBI if a foreign government were to reach out to him with oppo research during the 2020 campaign. He has since tried to walk back his position, but his clumsy attempts at damage control have even earned him criticism on Fox News.

Panetta, a former Democratic Congressman who served as both CIA director and Defense Secretary for President Barack Obama, pointed out at Trump was essentially endorsing an illegal act as part of his potential re-election strategy.

“The law says that no one should receive any kind of benefit, any candidate who receives a benefit from any foreign country is violating the laws of our country. That’s clear. It’s a violation of law,” Panetta stated. “For him to take a position that is against the law in this country…for the President of the United States to say he would be willing to take that information and not have to call the FBI, I think represents a violation of the oath of office that this president took.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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