WASHINGTON — A group of Florida lawmakers is calling for a classified briefing after the intelligence community revealed Iran was behind a slew of threatening emails sent to voters in the state.

On Wednesday evening, the nation’s top intelligence officials announced attempts by Russia and Iran to interfere in the election. The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, announced both countries accessed voter information and Iran was behind a series of threatening emails that were sent this week to voters in Florida.

“We want to get to the bottom of it. At the end of the day, the voter needs to know, they are the true victims,” said Rep. Michael Waltz in an interview with Spectrum News.

“Our adversaries are trying to sow discord," he added.

Waltz and Rep. Stephanie Murphy want to know more about the incidents. They sent a joint letter to Ratcliffe, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Bill Barr asking for an official briefing on Russian and Iranian interference in the 2020 election.

"It will allow us to ask specific questions about Florida elections and to drive down a little bit deeper about whether there are any potential issues here in our state,” Murphy said.

The duo have long fought for transparency about election security from the federal government. They first learned of breaches by Russian hackers inside several county computer networks in Florida from a single line tucked into Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report. 

The heads of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Mark Warner issued a stark warning to foreign adversaries.

“Republicans and Democrats are united when we say that continued attempts to sow dissent, cast doubt on election results, or disrupt our election systems and infrastructure will necessitate a severe response,” they wrote in a joint statement.

"There has to be a response, and the statement I saw from the bipartisan intelligence committee chairs of the Senate ratcheted up that pressure,” said Adam Ambrogi, the director of Democracy Fund in Washington D.C.

The emails sent to voters in Florida appeared to be from a far-right group known as the Proud Boys, who support President Trump. The Proud Boys denied having any part in sending the emails.

Election experts say it appears the intelligence community has learned valuable lessons from 2016. Four years ago, several computer networks in the states were infiltrated by foreign adversaries. The Florida Department of State said there was no breach to Florida’s Voter Registration database in this specific incident.

“They moved quickly to release the emails that they had to get ahead of some of the problems we saw in 2016," Ambrogi said. "We didn’t hear from intelligence and law enforcement about what was going on."

In Wednesday night’s announcement, officials said the emails were designed to damage President Trump, though some experts say conveying that kind of message is problematic.

“It’s very easy to get sucked into this trap of which country is trying to support which candidate,” said Rachael Dean Wilson with Alliance for Securing Democracy in Washington, D.C.

“Having that conversation is a win for foreign actors seeking to divide us here at home," she added.

Experts say these incidents are part of a campaign to undermine voter confidence in the election. They warn voters to be skeptical of any correspondence you receive that is attempting to influence or intimidate you.