Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) got a lot of heat from Republicans and the traditional media a couple of weeks ago for saying that Russian hackers had "penetrated" some of the county voting systems in Florida. His detractors included his general election opponent, the odious Gov. Rick Scott, on whose watch this happened. Because according to three people who are aware of the intelligence involved talked to NBC News, it totally happened.
Nelson was informed of the attack by the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee, because they wanted him to "let supervisors of elections in Florida know that Russians are inside our records" Nelson said. He also said that Russian hackers "have already penetrated certain counties in the state and they now have free rein to move about." The attacks began with a 2016 hack of a Florida elections vendor, VR Systems, by hackers working for Russian military intelligence, according to what NBC has found out. In that attack, hackers "likely used data obtained from that operation to … launch a voter registration-themed spear-phishing campaign targeting U.S. local government organizations." Now, however, the "extent and seriousness of the threat remains unclear, shrouded for reasons of national security."
It is serious enough for Intelligence Committee leaders Richard Burr (R-NC) and Mark Warner (D-VA) to have asked Nelson and his Republican colleague, Sen. Marco Rubio, to warn state officials. Which they definitely did, writing a letter informing them of the attack. "We encourage you in the strongest terms to take advantage" of federal election systems protection assistance, the letter said. Which makes Scott's response to Nelson total bullshit: "Either Bill Nelson knows of crucial information the federal government is withholding from Florida election officials, or he is simply making things up."
So the question for Florida voters now is whether their governor gives a damn that Russia could be trying to attack their election this November, or if in fact Scott is counting on it for a win.