TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis says the FBI confirmed the Mueller report's assertion that Russian operatives targeted Florida in the 2016 election, but there was no manipulation of votes.
- DeSantis met with FBI about counties being hacked during 2016 election
- Governor called hacking intrusions into elections supervisors networks
- DeSantis: No data manipulated; hacking didn't impact voting results
- PREVIOUS STORY: Florida mentioned at least 30 times in Mueller report
In a news conference Tuesday, the governor said he had been briefed by the FBI, and that two counties were targeted in a Russian "spear-phishing" campaign during the 2016 election, allowing them to gain access to their voter databases.
However, the counties were not named.
DeSantis said a nondisclosure agreement had been signed, and the impacted counties could not be named, but the counties were notified and are aware of the intrusions.
"I recently met with the FBI concerning the election issues mention in the Mueller report," DeSantis said. "Two Florida counties experienced intrusions into supervisor of elections networks."
The governor went on to say there was no manipulation of data, and the hacking did not impact any voting.
This comes following release of the Mueller report, which indicated "Florida" had been mentioned 30 times, including a mention that an intelligence arm of the Russian military gained access to at least one Florida county government network.