Journalist Glenn Greenwald thinks Republicans are right to seek verification of a CIA report that Russia was behind a hack of the Democratic National Committee's emails.

And, he said in an interview of Fox News Channel's "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Democrats are being hypocrites for saying skeptics of the CIA report are being agents of Russia.

"We should be extremely skeptical of it for multiple reasons," Greenwald said.

First, he said, it is a "second-hand report from somebody whose identity is being shielded, describing what the CIA supposedly concluded, laundering that through The Washington Post. These are assertions that are being made completely unaccompanied by any evidence whatsoever, let alone evidence that we can touch and rationally review."

Further, he said, CIA agents "are programmed in a lot of cases to disseminate misinformation and political actors. We ought to be highly skeptical."

Greenwald noted that Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, appearing on Carlson's show last week, told Carlson he should put the show on the Russian government-backed RT since he was aiding them in questioning the CIA report.



Russia certainly might be behind the hacking both Greenwald and Carlson agreed, but Greenwald said that for a Democratic congressman to accuse Carlson of being "disloyal" and "a tool of the Kremlin" for having questions is creating a "toxic environment" based on desperation and political maneuvering.

"When Mitt Romney ran against Barack Obama, the Democrats mocked Romney mercilessly for depicting Russia as the No. 1 geopolitical threat," Greenwald said. "They released a video saying Mitt Romney was stuck in the Cold War; he doesn't understand the 21st century. Obama in the debate said the 1980s want their foreign policy back to think Russia is this great threat."

Now, Greenwald said, they believe "Vladimir Putin lurks behind every American problem."

Such suggestions not only create a toxic environment domestically, but could cause unintentional confrontation with a country "that can do a lot of damage."