Hysterical Headlines for August 20th – Trump, Russia, Nelson collusion hits Florida
Bottom Line: Your daily doses of nonsense in the media and my takes on them...
Excerpt: Florida election officials said Saturday they are seeking more information to combat any possibility of ongoing hacking efforts on county voting systems, as support mounted over the weekend for Sen. Bill Nelson’s recent claims that Russian operatives have “penetrated” some county voter registration databases in Florida ahead of the 2018 elections.
A U.S. government official familiar with the matter confirmed to McClatchy on Saturday an NBC news report that Nelson was right when he said Russian hackers had “penetrated” some of Florida’s county voting systems. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee told Nelson recently that operatives working for Russia penetrated some county voter registration databases in Florida. That appears to represent new information about fallout from a Russian hacking operation nearly two years ago and not evidence of a fresh attack, the government official familiar with the matter said.
However, the U.S. government official who spoke to McClatchy said Nelson overstated the threat in saying on Aug. 7 that, after penetrating county voter registration databases, Russian cyber operatives “now have free rein to move about.” Nelson since has voiced concerns that the Russians could tamper with voter registration databases, suppress votes and create chaos at the polls on Election Day.
Details of the extent of any election security threat from the Russians’ penetration of Florida counties are classified, and the limited information that has leaked presents a confusing picture.
Florida officials faced with the prospect of ongoing hacking attempts say they’ve seen no evidence of voter information being altered as early primary voting continues in counties around the state.
Hot Take: The absurd part is mostly what still isn’t in this story. That President Obama said Russian hacking wasn’t an issue in September of 2016 and Trump should focus on trying to win voters rather than worrying about Russia. We know how that turned out or that Bill Nelson used the now infamous Steel Dossier to advance the Trump/Russia collusion narrative in September of 2016. In other words, when team DNC and Clinton were paying for the fraudulent dossier – Nelson was part of the “in the know” crowd before the rest of us had a clue it existed and was being used as part of a grand conspiracy to spy on team Trump and later President Trump. You’d think that might be important?
Hot Take: Too good to pass up. But man do they have that kneeling thing down pat. Kaepernick's sure to be proud.
Until Tomorrow...