Stephen Colbert says Russian intelligence officers followed him on a recent trip to the country

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Stephen Colbert

Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/AP

"Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

Since February, "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert has held on to a first-place ranking in the late-night ratings battle, thanks, in large part, to his incisive commentary on President Donald Trump and his administration's alleged Russian ties. 

But, according to Colbert, his high profile and Russian jokes may be attracting too much attention for his own comfort, specifically from Russian intelligence.

Colbert visited Russia last week and appeared on a Russian late-night show to facetiously announce that he's running for President of the United States in 2020. He says he was "followed" by both Russian and American intelligence officers during his trip.

"Man, it is good to be back in the USA," Colbert told his "Late Show" audience Monday night. "I don't know if you knew this, but I was in Russia last week.

"You know who did know I was in Russia? Russian intelligence. Hardcore fans, evidently. Followed me everywhere. Also got some attention from American intelligence. Couple guys seemed to pop up everywhere we went."

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Colbert then joked that there's someone else American intelligence should be more interested in for their alleged Russia-related activities.

"But it's important, keep your eye on a comedian while he's in Russia doing jokes," he said. "I could be giving state secrets to the Russians. Oh, wait, someone's already got that covered. Someone should investigate that guy."

Watch the segment: 

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