Senator: Russia has ‘penetrated’ Florida counties ahead of midterms

Sen. Bill Nelson (Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP)

The Russian government has already “penetrated” some Florida state offices ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, according to a Democratic senator.

Nelson, who is locked in a tough Senate reelection campaign against Florida’s Republican Gov. Rick Scott, told the newspaper that the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee had told him to warn the election supervisors in Florida that the “Russians are in their records,” the Times reported.

Efforts by Russian “bad actors” to penetrate Florida’s election system have been widely reported. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers includes charges that Florida had been the victim of multiple attempts to hack county election systems in the 2016 presidential election.

Sen. Nelson’s office did not respond to a Yahoo News request for additional comment. A request for confirmation of Nelson’s claims from the FBI also went unanswered.

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