A sense is taking hold among House Democrats familiar with the Russia investigation that the whole thing has the stench of criminality. After watching a Democratic colleague observe that he "wouldn't be surprised" if people did jail time following the Russia probe, Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) respectfully disagreed:

"I will be surprised if people don't end up going to jail," Heck told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Hardball Tuesday evening.

The Washington Democrat, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, had just been shown a clip of another member of the Intelligence panel, Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-TX) , having an exchange with CNN's Wolf Blitzer earlier in the day.

“My impression is, I wouldn't be surprised after all of this is said and done that some people end up in jail," Castro asserted.

"Really?" responded Blitzer, a bit thrown with the candor of Castro's charge.

Asked if he was "confident" that at least some Trump associates would end up in jail, Castro added, "If I was betting, I would say, yes."

On MSNBC, Heck and Matthews also discussed news that the FBI was creating a special unit to investigate Russian interference in the election. In response, Heck said:

"Anybody associated with the Trump orbit that was involved in Russia financial entanglements probably was calling their lawyer today, Chris. That's what I make of it."

Watch the MSNBC clip of both Heck and Castro.