House intel member: I've read the so-called 'DOJ abuses' memo — and it reads like the writer was 'a couple whiskies in'

A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Hines (D-CT) has read chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) hyped and secretive "Justice Department abuses" memo — and says its contents are far from the bombshell his GOP colleagues claim they are.

"Having read it," Himes told MSNBC host Chris Matthews during a Thursday evening interview, "you'd hope that whoever wrote that was a couple of whiskies into the bag."

The memo that spurred a right-wing (and Russian bot-fueled) Twitter campaign under the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo was, as Huffington Post reported last week, supposedly written by GOP staffers.

The document, Himes continued, is "based on intelligence that none of these people have reviewed."

"When mouth-breathers like [Fox News host Sean] Hannity and [Jeanine] Pirro throw this stuff up on television it doesn't surprise me," he said. But to hear it come from congresspeople like Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) "who should know better," Himes continued, is disappointing. 

Watch below, via MSNBC: