Florida Delegation Briefed on Election Hacking
WASHINGTON — Florida lawmakers were briefed Thursday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security about election hacking in the state.
The state's Congressional Delegation finally has more information about what exactly played out in two counties during the 2016 election -- but there is overall dissatisfaction on both sides of the aisle with the notification process of how this information was relayed to elected officials.
- Spectrum News Reporter Samantha Jo-Roth attended this news conference and will have reports throughout the day on Spectrum Bay News 9 and Spectrum News 13
Gov. Ron DeSantis said earlier this week that two Florida counties were compromised by Russian hackers in 2016.
The identity of the two Florida county election offices that were hacked in 2016 remains a mystery. Lawmakers want the FBI to declassify that information and are continuing to ask why it is just now that they are being briefed.
Reps. Michael Waltz (R-Daytona Beach), Darren Soto (D-Orlando), Matt Gaetz (R-Pensacola) and Stephanie Murphy (D-Winter Park) were among those who were briefed and then spoke to reporters Thursday.
"I am deeply concerned by the timely notification, or the lack thereof," Murphy said.
"I think we need to be clear that we draw a very bright line between no collusion by President Trump or his campaign, the Mueller report was very clear with that - to separately the Russians have and still are trying to interfere with our electoral system," Waltz added.
The delegation confirmed that elections officials in counties that were breached were made aware of the intrusions before election day.
Members say the FBI emphasized that the breach did not change vote tallies or the outcome of the election and that they found no evidence that the voter registration was altered, however, lawmakers here acknowledge that doesn’t necessarily mean that it didn’t happen, just that there is no evidence to support that theory.
After the delegation expressed their concerns with federal officials, they said the FBI committed to going back and considering their request to declassify the county information.
Why exactly are the identities of these two counties classified? The FBI told lawmakers it is due to protecting victims and methods and sources that could alert foreign adversaries who may still be trying to influence future elections.
But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say voters deserve to know the truth because keeping that information classified is undermining voter confidence.
"The public needs to know what counties are being hacked and what steps are being taken to hold the bad actors accountable," Murphy said. "I believe this lack of transparency is counter-productive."
Lawmakers are now taking the information they learned in this briefing and working on legislation.
One idea they already have is to collaborate on a bill that would require the FBI to brief an entire congressional delegation when something like this happens again. We’ll continue to keep tracking this story for you with the latest updates.
Florida's mentions in the Mueller Report
DeSantis' announcement this week followed the release of the Mueller report, which indicated "Florida" had been mentioned 30 times, including a mention that an intelligence arm of the Russian military gained access to at least one Florida county government network.
The governor went on to say there was no manipulation of data, and the hacking did not impact any voting.
On Thursday, Gaetz criticized the FBI and Homeland Security.
"The FBI and DHS has not been forthcoming with us or the American people," he said.
"The victims in these cases are not government office holders, they are the American people."
Gloss