“He is aiding and abetting Putin’s efforts by not being direct about this,” Mr. McMaster, a former national security adviser who is now a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said in an interview on MSNBC. “This sustained campaign of disruption, disinformation and denial is aided by any leader who doesn’t acknowledge it.”…

“Russia is the primary problem in this area,” Mr. McMaster said flatly.

He continued, “This is why I think the president has to be much stronger in condemning this effort to really reduce our confidence in who we are as Americans.”