Congressional Intel Leader on Russia, Ukraine and Trump

One Decision

Democratic Congressman Jim Himes is the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, with oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the NSA. He’s also one of the most outspoken members of Congress advocating for supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. Guest host and foreign affairs journalist Indira Lakshmanan spoke with Himes about his recent meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Republican leaders block a vote on a $60 billion aid package to Kyiv, and with Yulia Navalnaya, wife of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, just as she learned of her husband’s suspicious death in a Russian gulag. Himes discusses the global competition between democracy and autocracy and says there's one decision for the United States—"Do we shrink from that fight?" He calls Donald Trump a "cult leader" whose hold over the Republican Party is dangerous to democracy and global stability. Indira and One Decision’s resident spymaster, former MI6 Chief Sir Richard Dearlove, discuss the Congressman's comments on the threat of Russia deploying a nuclear weapon in space, the massive growth in open-source intelligence, and threats to security from internet-connected technologies.