Hackers from Russia were able to gain access to at least one county's election computer network in Florida ahead of the 2016 election, it was revealed Thursday.
As the Miami Herald pointed out, special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the election included a portion about how hackers from the GRU, the foreign military intelligence agency in Russia, used a spear phishing email to get into one county. The report did not name which county, and the FBI would not reveal the name of the county when the Florida Department of State asked about it.
"We understand the FBI believes that this operation enabled the GRU to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government," the Mueller report reads. Mueller's team of prosecutors and FBI agents "did not independently verify that belief."
Florida's Department of State told the Herald in a statement it is confident in its assessment the 2016 election was not compromised.
"The Department maintains that the 2016 elections in Florida were not hacked," spokesperson Sarah Revell said. "The Florida Voter Registration System was and remains secure, and official results or vote tallies were not changed."
The Mueller report was released Thursday, with many redacted parts to hide classified and privileged information. President Donald Trump was exonerated from conspiring with the Russians to win the 2016 election, but the report outlined several instances where Russia meddled in it.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.