FBI to brief Florida governor, senator on election hacking

The FBI will brief Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on election hacking that was detailed in the Mueller report. 

Scott spokesman Chris Hartline told The Hill in a statement that “the FBI has reached out and is working on scheduling a briefing with Senator Scott in the next few weeks.”

DeSantis also said the bureau has said it would meet with state officials, according to Politico, and expressed frustration that Florida officials don’t know more about the incident.{mosads}

“They won’t tell us which county it was, are you kidding me?” he said at a Thursday press conference in Miami. “Why would you have not said something immediately?”

Last week, Scott sent a letter to the FBI asking for evidence to corroborate hacking claims made in the Mueller report. 

“It is my goal to have free and fair elections with zero fraud, which is why, as Governor, I invested millions of dollars in cyber security, hired additional cyber security staff, and secured election security grants for all 67 counties in Florida,” he said in the letter. “This is a very serious issue that needs the immediate attention of the FBI.”

Scott was serving as Florida’s governor at the time of the election. 

Scott defeated then-Sen. Bill Nelson (D) in the 2018 midterms. Nelson at the time had raised concerns about the possibility for election hacking. 

The Mueller report, which was released in redacted form last week, said that Russia’s intelligence directorate, known as the GRU, sent “spearphishing” emails that contained malicious software to Florida country officials in charge of administering the 2016 election. 

“We understand the FBI believes that this operation enabled the GRU to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government,” the report said.  

The Hill has reached out to DeSantis and the FBI for comment.