Mueller report

Himes: Mueller report needs to be made public for closure

By REBECCA MORIN

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday said that the upcoming report from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe must be made public because "everything about this has become political."

"The question of the Russian interference and the possibility of collusion by the president and his people has twisted our politics into something unrecognizable for the last two years, including behavior on the part of the president, attacking the FBI, attacking Bob Mueller," Himes said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.“ "You know, everything about this has become political. The way to end that, of course, is for the truth to be out there."

Democrats have repeatedly called for the report from Mueller's probe into whether Russia colluded with President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign to be made public once it has been finalized.

On Friday, six Democratic House committee chairs in a letter urged Attorney General William Barr to release Mueller's report. They also asked that any parts of the report that are being redacted to be submitted to Congress and for the Justice Department by way of explanation.

Himes added that the committee will not begin talks about impeachment until after the report is released.

"If that truth indicates that President Trump committed no crime, impeachable or otherwise, so be it," he said to host Chuck Todd. "If it indicates that he did, that's a much more complicated world."

"But first and foremost, given that we've been on the edge of our seats for the last two years on this issue, everyone in this country needs to know what happened and then we decide where to take it from there.”

When asked about whether bipartisan cooperation on the intelligence committee has changed since California Democrat Adam Schiff has taken over, Himes blasted former chairman Devin Nunes, who has repeatedly criticized Mueller's probe.

"Devin Nunes, as chairman, of course, very early on in the last Congress, sort of turned over his activities to being the defense of the president," he said. "Devin is part of that group, and it's not a huge group — part of that group in the Congress that is really fully dedicated, facts be damned, to defending this president."