Late-night host Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night joked that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee ended their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election because they don't want to be attacked by Russians.

“Yes, after a yearlong investigation they have examined all the evidence, and they have concluded they do not want to be sprayed with a nerve agent," Colbert said on "The Late Show."

“The GOP here reached an opposite conclusion Monday from the entire intelligence community, but anyone who watched the committee work over the past year already knew that they were opposed to intelligence,” he added.

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The comments follow the United Kingdom's decision on Wednesday morning to expel 23 Russian diplomats after it claimed Russia carried out a nerve agent attack on an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in the southern English town of Salisbury last week.

The U.S. has condemned the attack and vowed to work with the U.K. to respond.

Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee announced earlier this week that the panel is ending its probe into Russian election meddling and has concluded there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Democrats on the committee on Tuesday argued Republicans prematurely closed the investigation despite what they claim to be “significant evidence” of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.

In a 21-page document billed as a status update, committee Democrats detailed several lines of inquiry that they say Republicans either shortchanged or failed to pursue entirely. The panel's Democrats said they would keep investigating those leads.