Former CIA Director James Woolsey on Friday slammed the Obama administration's response to Russia's election hacking last year, likening it to the inaction surrounding Syria's use of chemical weapons against its citizens in 2012.
"What the president did was precisely as decisive and effective as what he did with respect to trying to get the Syrians not to use chemical weapons on their own population," Woolsey told Brooke Baldwin on CNN, referring to President Barack Obama. "He drew a red line and he ignored it."
Woolsey, who served under former President Bill Clinton, was referring to a report in The Washington Post the Obama White House had solid proof of the Kremlin's involvement, but internal wrangling led to the "modest" response of expelling 35 diplomats and closing two compounds in the U.S.
One former Obama official lamented the actions, telling the Post: "I feel like we sort of choked."
Woolsey has served three other presidents in various roles: Republicans Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and Democrat Jimmy Carter.
Woolsey reflected on Reagan's response to the Soviet Union's theft of U.S. natural gas pipeline technology in the 1980s.
The CIA planted a "logic bomb" into the stolen technology that Soviets incorporated into its pipeline apparatus.
The bomb detonated in June 1982, destroying the Siberian pipeline – leading to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union.
"They had the CIA tinker with the technology that was being stolen," Woolsey told Baldwin. "Once it was deployed, it basically blew up the pipelines.
"The point is that they should have retaliated. It ought to have been something very decisive against this kind of Russian interference.
"We should have used our capabilities very decisively, far more powerfully than what Putin tried to do, and have seriously disrupted their effort," Woolsey said. "Because this is not fair to the American voter.
"I was not a supporter of Hillary Clinton, but she deserves to have every real vote in her favor counted."