WASHINGTON _ Sen. Bill Nelson declared vindication Friday over his still-unsubstantiated claim that Russians hacked into some county election systems in Florida, pointing to a news report that stated there is a "classified basis for Nelson's assertion."
The Florida Democrat tweeted a breaking news alert from NBC News that said, "Bill Nelson wasn't making things up when he said Russians hacked Florida election systems."
The report said, "Three people familiar with the intelligence tell NBC News that there is a classified basis for Nelson's assertion."
Gov. Rick Scott, who is challenging Nelson for re-election, has accused Nelson of leaking classified information or simply fabricating the information, first disclosed to the Tampa Bay Times more than a week ago.
The Times has reported how top Republicans in Washington, including Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr and Sen. Marco Rubio, have issued statements that do not confirm what Nelson said but also did not contradict him.
The Florida Department of State did not respond to the NBC News report.
Instead, a spokeswoman pointed to a Thursday letter sent to Nelson from Secretary of State Ken Detzner and Paul Lux, president of the Florida State Association of Supervisors of Elections, asking for evidence to support his claims.
"The Department of State has no evidence to support his claims at this time. We look forward to his response," the spokeswoman said Friday.
As governor, Scott has a security clearance and could have requested a briefing from Washington officials but did not. A spokesman said that Detzner's office was handling communication with federal authorities.
Republican groups have been hammering away at Nelson reacted to the report by raising question if the Democrat "broke the law" by revealing classified information.
The rules of procedure for the Senate Intelligence Committee do spell out that senators are not to disclose material and can be referred to the ethics committee if they do.
