Rep. Devin Nunes said he is concerned that Robert Mueller has a back channel with the Democrats ahead of the former special counsel's hearing about the Russia investigation later this month.

After Democratic leadership announced a deal that pushed Mueller's open hearing back a week to July 24, Nunes said, "There's got to be a reason for it." He suggested there may be a closed-door effort to work with Mueller's team to create a "narrative."

"I fear what's going on right now is that Mueller is working with a lot of his staff who are back channeling to the Democrats, and so it is very possible that Mueller is going to have a few little sound bites that are going to give the Democrats exactly what they want," the California Republican said Monday evening on Fox News.

Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, suggested there has already been some behind-the-scenes maneuvering going on, referring back to Mueller's public statement in late May about his report.

"Remember, [Attorney General] Bill Barr came out with [then-Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein, and issued a statement, right? He issued a statement. And then a few days later, somebody got to Mueller where Mueller needed to come out ... and make a nine and a half minute statement. Then of course, later, he had to rectify it," Nunes told host Sean Hannity.

Nunes appeared to be referring a joint statement the Justice Department and its Office of Special Counsel put out within hours of Mueller's public statement to end speculation that the special counsel contradicted Barr on the decision-making on whether President Trump could be charged with obstruction of justice during his public address.

Mueller was originally scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees this week, but after members complained about strict limits for questioning, Democratic Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York and Democratic Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California announced on Friday that a deal had been struck for a less stringent hearing to take place on July 24.

Democrats are holding closed-door meetings Monday evening because they are worried Mueller's testimony will backfire on them "big time," Hannity said of Fox News reporting earlier in the program.

Mueller’s report, released by the Justice Department with redactions in April, concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election but did not establish that any members of the Trump campaign criminally conspired with the Russians in these efforts. Mueller did not reach a conclusion on obstruction of justice, but Barr and Rosenstein concluded there was insufficient evidence for such a crime.

In his only public statement so far on the Russia investigation at the end of May, Mueller indicated he had no desire to testify about his work, let alone do it publicly. "The report is my testimony," he said. Mueller only agreed to testify after he was subpoenaed.