Democratic senator accuses FBI Director Comey of withholding information on Russia for political reasons

Sen. Ron Wyden has suggested that FBI Director James Comey is using classification to hide information about possible Russian interference in the US election for political reasons, according to The New Yorker.

The Democratic senator from Oregon told the magazine that he's concerned intelligence is becoming politicized.

"My increasing concern is that classification now is being used much more for political security than for national security," Wyden said.

Wyden sent a letter, along with six of his colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee, to President Barack Obama three weeks after the election saying the senators "believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the US election that should be declassified and released to the public."

"We wanted to get that out before a new administration took place," Wyden told The New Yorker. "I can't remember seven senators joining a declassification request."

Wyden also pressed Comey on this point during a Congressional hearing in January. Comey said he couldn't discuss the supposed ties between some of President Donald Trump's associates and Russians.

"When a foreign power interferes with American institutions, you don't just say, 'Oh, that's business as usual,' and leave it at that," Wyden told The New Yorker. "There's a historical imperative here, too."