WATCH: Ex-intel chief Clapper drops the hammer on Devin Nunes and his 'drive-by shooting' of the FBI

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Wednesday raked Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) over the coals during a CNN interview in which he accused the congressman of ruining the House Intelligence Committee's ability to function.

Clapper began by contrasting Nunes' approach with the way past chairmen of the House Intelligence Committee have handled their responsibilities.

"The general attitude of the members on both the committees, not 100 percent but mostly, is this is an important national responsibility, a sacred public trust," he said. "It is unrelated to my home district, home state, or my party. And what we have now is a far cry from that."

CNN host Alisyn Camerota then asked Clapper to describe how things have changed, and he didn't hold back.

"Now the committee is paralyzed with partisanship," he said. "It's completely dysfunctional. It's a sad thing to see, what's happened to the committee."

Camerota then asked Clapper if the House Intelligence Committee could ever truly function as long as Nunes served as its chairman.

"Not in the manner in which it was intended," he said. "Not used as a political lever to do a drive-by shooting in the interest of defending the president and the White House... this is a hit job, more or less, to attack the FBI, attack the Department of Justice, and by extension, the Mueller investigation."

Watch the video below.