Thread by @kazweida

This #SundayMorning we're probing a Senate Intelligence report issued the day after Mueller's testimony that confirms Russia scanned systems in 50 states, accessed them in 21 & compromised those systems in at least 2 states.

It's likely one of those states is Florida.
(THREAD)

(2) This isn't really news. Earlier this year the FBI briefed Florida officials about the extent of the breach but they've been required not to reveal details to the public.

If Florida is State 2 in the report, it's likely 2-4 counties were compromised.

miamiherald.com/news/politics-…

(3) While the FBI specifically says they don't have evidence votes were altered, there's an awful lot of suspicion about why they're intentionally obfuscating about Florida.

And fury over Mitch McConnell's blocking legislation on election security.

politico.com/story/2019/07/…

(4) In the months before the 2016 election, Florida officials were warned repeatedly but ignored the risk. In fact, Florida and others took nearly two years to accept DHS's basic, free cybersecurity services.

FREE help. They refused free help for years.

cnn.com/2019/07/26/pol…

(5) Florida has since accepted grants to shore up election systems.

The Department of State distributed approximately $14.5 million in election security grants to elections supervisors last year to enhance security for the 2018 election.

sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/…

(6) Florida chose to invest much of that money in establishing ALBERT alerts, an increasingly popular software being installed in many states that scans for intrusions.

As of last year, there were still critical concerns about ALBERT vulnerabilities.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

(7) You know who isn't concerned? Former Governor Rick Scott. He was the governor during the 2016 election, but he hasn't bothered to read the Senate report.

He did, however, make time during his appearance on Meet the Press to criticize Elijah Cummings.

tampabay.com/florida-politi…

(8) Bill Nelson's claims that FL systems were compromised were framed at the time as preposterous, but he's certainly been vindicated.

Even something such as tampering with voter rolls may have swayed tight election races for Gillum or Nelson.

nbcnews.com/politics/elect…

(9) And even if Russian hackers didn't change votes, it's ridiculous to say their efforts didn't affect the 2016 election. Their particular blend of agitprop, helped along by social media giants like Facebook, was critical in targeting swing states.

newsweek.com/2019/08/02/ele…

(10) Securing elections is not a partisan issue, no matter what Mitch McConnell says. Democrats want everyone to vote, even Republicans.

The GOP, however, is gerrymandering, passing voter ID laws & blocking secure elections. They're the ones who seemed frightened of a fair fight

(END) Thanks for dropping by for my #SundayMorning thread. Come by next weekend and we'll do this again.

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GAH! I almost forgot. Thanks to @TonyD1233 for the thread suggestion. Appreciate you all weighing in every weekend and keeping these topics fresh and relevant. Mwah!

For those who were interested in the sourcing on the infographic in the last tweet, it's an image of the 2018 results in Wisconsin. Wisconsin has long complained of partisan gerrymandering. You can find the original article here:

isthmus.com/news/news/dems…