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U.S. NEWS Monday 29 July 2019

Scott says he wasn't told about Russian hacking in 2016

By MIKE SCHNEIDER sians had penetrated the tained there was no infiltra-
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — U.S. systems of certain Florida tion of Florida election sys-
Sen. Rick Scott said Sunday counties and had "free rein tems in the 2018 election.
that he was never told by to move about" before last But Scott warned that Rus-
Homeland Security officials year's midterm election. sia, Iran, and China were
in 2016 when he was Flori- Scott, who defeated Nel- working to impact the 2020
da's governor that Russian son in the November elec- elections.
hackers had gained ac- tion, criticized Nelson's al- "Everybody needs to work
cess to voter databases in legations, saying they were together to make sure this
two Florida counties ahead sensational. doesn't happen," Scott
of the presidential election. The Senate report outlined said. "But all of us have to
Scott said on NBC's "Meet efforts by Russian hack- understand the Russians
the Press" that he was ers to get into systems in are here and other coun- In this Jan. 17, 2019, file photo, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., dis-
cusses the government shutdown during a news conference on
never contacted by the Illinois and around two tries. They're going to try to Capitol Hill in Washington.
Department of Homeland dozen unnamed states. It influence our elections."q Associated Press
Security in 2016 about the detailed attempts in Illinois
infiltration. The Republican and a state only referred
said he learned about most to as "State 2" but widely
of the details this year. believed to be Florida, ac-
Current Gov. Ron DeSantis cording to newsreports .
said in May that the hack- The FBI believed at one
ers didn't manipulate any point in 2018 that four
data and the election re- county systems in "State 2"
sults weren't compromised. may have been infiltrated
DeSantis and other offi- or been the target of suspi-
cials briefed on the matter cious activity, according to
wouldn't say which coun- the Senate report.
ties. The Senate report also said
"And the bottom line is, the FBI had opened an in-
they got into two counties. vestigation into suspicious
But they had no impact," activity in "State 2" as early
Scott said. "They didn't as August 2016 and had
change any voter registra- conducted outreach to
tion, voter rolls. They didn't county elections officials.
change any votes." In December 2017, the sec-
Scott made his comments retary of state and elec-
when asked about a Sen- tions director in "State 2"
ate report released last told members of the Sen-
week that said all states ate Intelligence Commit-
were targeted to varying tee that there never was
degrees by Russian hack- an attack on the state's sys-
ers. Scott said he hasn't yet tems.
read the report, though he The state officials didn't
was briefed on it. want to share its "cyber-
"You haven't read this re- security posture" with the
port yet?" said Chuck Todd, committee, but the report
the show's host. "It got re- says the Department of
leased on Thursday. I'm Homeland Security was
sorry." "complimentary" of the
Last August, then-Demo- steps the state had taken
cratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, to secure its voting systems
who Scott was running by August 2018.
against, said that Rus- On Sunday, Scott main-

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