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Politics

Scott to Nelson: Show Us Where 'Russians Are in Florida's Election Records'

August 15, 2018 - 6:00am
Tuesday's after-Cabinet press conference
Tuesday's after-Cabinet press conference

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is sticking to his comment that “Russians are in Florida’s election records,” as Gov. Rick Scott pushes for more information and questions the veracity of the claim.

With the two set to square off in the November general election for the Senate seat, Nelson’s office said Tuesday the focus needs to be on election security not personal political gain and that “it would just be wrong, shortsighted and foolish to think that Russia is not doing in Florida what it did in 2016.”

Nelson made similar comments to reporters Monday night while at a campaign stop in the Gadsden County community of Quincy, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The statement from Nelson’s office came as Scott continued to lash out at the Democratic senator’s assertions last week about ongoing Russian meddling.

“The only conclusion I have is, one, if he does have classified information, how did he get it? Because I don’t think he’s entitled to it. And why would he release it to a reporter?” Scott said after a state Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “Two, if it’s not true, why didn’t he just come and say it’s not true?”

Scott added there is a concern that Nelson’s statement could impact the Aug. 28 primary elections.

“We’re in the middle of a primary election, people are voting, absentee ballots are out, early voting has started in some places, and people need to know the facts, and I don’t think he’s being transparent,” Scott said.

Nelson, who is the ranking member of the U.S. Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, told reporters Aug. 7 in Tallahassee that local election officials could get help to secure their databases and records from Russian cyber-hacking, noting, “The Russians are in Florida’s election records” and that they had “penetrated” some voter-registration systems.

When pressed at the time on the issue of election-system breaches, Nelson, said details of the information remained “classified.”

Nelson had been asked in June to work with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to get elections supervisors in Florida to push for federal cyber-security assistance as a follow up to attacks on the state system in 2016. The request by leaders of the Intelligence Committee was intended to provide a more bipartisan front to the push.

In response to Nelson’s statement in Tallahassee, Secretary of State Ken Detzner first asked Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., to provide some clarification to Nelson’s comments.

Burr’s response on Friday didn’t shed light.

“While I understand your questions regarding Senator Nelson’s recent public comments, I respectfully advise you to continue engaging directly with those federal agencies responsible for notifying you of and mitigating any potential intrusions --- specifically, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Burr wrote. “Any briefings or notifications about ongoing threats would, rightfully, come from those agencies.”

Detzner, a Scott appointee, then sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and FBI Director Christopher Wray asking for “an official response that confirms your previous statement that you ‘have not seen any new compromises by Russian actors of election infrastructure’ and reaffirms your commitment to sharing any future knowledge of potential threats to Florida’s voting systems.”

Detzner in the letter to the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI noted that voting has already started in Florida for the primary elections.

“To the best of our knowledge and the knowledge of our federal partners, Florida’s voting systems and elections databases remain secure and there has been no intrusion of the Florida voter registration system and no reported breaches from locally elected supervisors of election,” Detzner wrote.

State legislators have accepted $19.2 million from the federal government to further secure voting systems that were targeted by Russian hackers in 2016.

Detzner has described hackers’ failure to breach election systems in 2016 as a “success story” for Florida.

Scott on Tuesday backed Detzner’s outlook on the 2016 election.

“We don’t believe that anybody was able to get into the system. We had a free and fair election. They have been clear about that, all along,” Scott said. “My understanding is that the secretary of state’s office has reached out to Homeland Security and the FBI, and they’ve said they don’t know of anything.”

Comments

it is just sad politics on both sides, especially Scott. He knows there were attempts to hack the elections and he knows that any information related to that effect is classified. Why do you think the FL Supervisors of Elections just accepted an extra $75 million to bolster security from the Feds? This is exactly the reasons I don't belong to either of these messed up political parties. There are things the government should control and there are great things about capitalism. Anything, whether the private sector or government that is unregulated is going to turn corrupt over time, but especially in business and the private sector because cash and profit margins are involved. The best choices are in the middle of both...balance.

Scott continues to be the quirky, geeky, moron that he's always been ... a carpetbagging, disgraced, CEO who should NEVER have been elected to any political office ... including dog-catcher. I'd like to see Scott PROVE that he "didn't know" the company he headed was defrauding U.S. taxpayers out of some $2.3 billion in falsified Medicare and Medicaid billings! Show us that 'proof', ChromeDome!

Hmmm. Perhaps someone should see if Hillary and the DNC paid the Russian's to stir the pot for the midterms? Deja vu for more meritless gossip to confuse those lemmings who rely on fake news because they are incapable of thinking on their own. Sad, very sad.

I would not call 25 Federal Criminal Indictments fake news... I would call those FACTS...

This fuels the new movement............ Walk a way... Democrats waking up and changing sides.. they like the bigger paychecks and want to keep them.. Democrats are taking the country down the drain ... trying to stop law enforcement.. trying desperately to destroy our country so they can Socialize it? No thanks.. Walk A Way... Walk A Way.. We welcome you to a country of laws and God.... like it used to be.

If you think God would agree with Trump, you need to rethink your Christianity...

Democrats are losing their base, they are circling the drain, and they need something or someone to blame because they cannot believe how bad their policies have been rejected. Trump skimmed off Black votes, Hispanic votes, Union votes because they were asked "What have you got to lose?" Now those votes are permanently in the GOP column and the Democrats are staining their shorts. No one is listening to the Democrat Propaganda Media anymore, they are seeing the light. Nelson is an idiot because he needs Russians to medal to save him.

43 seats have turned blue since Trump the Chump was elected by a minority of the people. I would hardly call that circling the drain. Perhaps you need a high school diploma...

Nelson is setting up his excuses for losing ahead of time Makes him look like a gaga old fool It will come back to bite him as Hamlet says “purposes mistook fall on their inventors’ heads”

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