Rick Scott asks FBI for details on reported Russian meddling in Florida

Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R) on Friday sent a letter to the FBI asking for evidence to corroborate details in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about Russia’s election interference in the Sunshine State.

The senator asked the bureau to confirm whether a Florida county government’s network was accessed by Russian agents during the 2016 election, as the report stated, and which county government the report referred to.

{mosads}”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.”

The Mueller report, released Thursday, said that Russia’s intelligence directorate, known as the GRU, sent “spearphishing” emails that contained malicious software to Florida country government officials tasked with 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 Florida Department of State said in a statement Thursday that it has “no knowledge or evidence of any successful hacking attempt at the county level during the 2016 elections” and said the FBI declined to share more information when asked, according to Orlando Weekly.

Scott was Florida’s governor during the 2016 election. Trump won the state by a little more than 1 percentage point.