Sen. Rick Scott wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray last week requesting any information the agency had to back up the conclusion reached in the report. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images FBI to discuss Florida election hacking with Scott, DeSantis

TALLAHASSEE — The FBI will meet with Sen. Rick Scott and Gov. Ron DeSantis in the next few weeks to discuss the agency's suspicion that Russians had hacked at least one county in Florida during the 2016 presidential election.

The suspected hacking, made public last week in a report from special counsel Robert Mueller, has jolted Florida officials who previously insisted that Russian efforts had been unsuccessful.


Scott wrote a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray last week requesting any information the agency had to back up the conclusion reached in the Mueller report. He asked Wray to respond within the seven days to both Congress and the Florida Department of State.

Scott spokesperson Chris Hartline said Thursday that the FBI “has reached out and is working on scheduling a briefing with Senator Scott in the next few weeks.”

DeSantis said the FBI also has promised to meet with state officials. He said he is frustrated that Florida officials don’t know more about the incident, including which county was targeted.

“They won’t tell us which county it was, are you kidding me?” DeSantis said at a press conference in Miami Thursday. “Why would you have not said something immediately?”

The brief mention of the hacking was a surprise to both state and local election officials in Florida.

When incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, made a similar assertion last year, Scott assailed him on the campaign trail, demanding proof and calling the comment “irresponsible.” Scott, a Republican and governor at the time, unseated Nelson in November.

While Russian attempts to access county election offices in the 2016 election had been previously reported, state officials — including those who reported directly to Scott at the time — had maintained that none of the efforts were successful.

State officials last week said they stood by their past statements and could not verify the new information with the FBI. A FBI spokesperson declined last week to answer questions about the information contained in the Mueller report.

Since initial reports surfaced of Russians targeting local election offices, details have remained murky. The Mueller report reported that Russian hackers sent spearphishing emails to more than 120 email accounts operated by Florida county election officials.

DeSantis said he wants the public to know which county was hacked.

“We’re going to make it public,” DeSantis said. “Unless somehow it is classified. I think the public has a right to know what may have happened.”