"This was an effort to get opposition research on an opponent in an American political campaign from the Russians, who were known to be engaged in spying inside the United States," Painter said Sunday during an interview on MSNBC.
"We do not get our opposition research from spies, we do not collaborate with Russian spies, unless we want to be accused of treason."
Painter also asserted former President Bush would not have allowed such a meeting to take place. "If this story is true, wed have one of them if not both of them in custody by now, and wed be asking them a lot of questions," he said, referring to the presence of President Donald Trumps then-campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at the meeting. "This is unacceptable. This borders on treason, if it is not itself treason."