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Florida Sen. Rick Scott says nobody told him about Russian hacking when he was governor

The former governor says information about hacking never made it to the state level.
Credit: AP
Senator Rick Scott File Photo (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

TAMPA, Fla. — Senator Rick Scott was in Tampa Monday, hosting a roundtable at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Afterwards, the Senator answered questions about Russian hacking of two election offices in the state. He says as then-governor of the state, responsible for overseeing election security, the FBI and Homeland Security should have told him.

He also clarified information coming from current Governor Ron DeSantis that members of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were aware of the intrusion into voter databases in those two counties.

Sen. Scott says that information never made it to the state level.

"They said that at the state level FDLE was not informed; they said that it was at a local, I think it's seven units of FDLE around the state, and one was informed and that's it. They said and they confirmed, that it never came up at the state level," Sen. Scott said.

Scott was briefed by the FBI and Homeland Security last Wednesday. He has urged the FBI to make the names of the two counties public.

During last year's Senate election, Scott criticized then-Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson for saying Russians hacked Florida election systems. At the time, Scott said Nelson should show proof of meddling.

Related: Russian hackers accessed 2 Florida voting databases, DeSantis says

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