The controversy over “Hope Florida” – the program championed by Florida’s First Lady – is back. Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly is now calling for a new investigation after a grand jury report was leaked to the media, making serious allegations about the use of taxpayer money by the DeSantis administration. NBC6’s Hatzel Vela reports
A state grand jury report found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration "misappropriated" funds by diverting Medicaid money to a nonprofit, eventually ending up in political committees supporting the governor’s agenda. But the report didn’t find enough to pursue criminal charges against anyone.
The report was first obtained and published by CBS Miami on Wednesday evening. It found $10 million from a total $67 million settlement in 2024 between Florida and Centene Corp., a vendor for the state’s Medicaid program, was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, the charity arm of an initiative helmed by First Lady Casey DeSantis.
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WATCH HEREThe money was then split equally between two nonprofit groups - Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society From Drugs.
Days later a large chunk of that money, $8.5 million, was given from the two groups to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee staffed by James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ chief of staff at the time. DeSantis later appointed Uthmeier to be Florida Attorney General.
Then Keep Florida Clean sent $9 million to the Republican Party of Florida and another $1.23 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another political committee chaired by Uthmeier.
The committee was dedicated to opposing two measures on the November 2024 ballot. One would’ve installed a right to an abortion in the state constitution, the other would’ve legalized recreational marijuana. Both measures failed to get the 60 percent support required to pass.
The grand jury report found Uthmeier “was in a position of authority over those involved in settling with Centene,” the report says, and witnesses identified him as having involvement in directing the money after it went to Hope Florida. But no witness would identify who specifically directed the money to Hope Florida.
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The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The grand jury could not find sufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally, as “nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida.”
“Virtually everyone involved is a lawyer and acted on the advice of other lawyers,” the report says. “We recognize that this would be an impediment to criminal prosecution. While we can't prove who is responsible, we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again.”
In a social media post, Alex Lanfranconi, communications director for DeSantis, called the CBS Miami story about the grand jury report a “baseless smear” that has been “debunked over and over again.”
“In fact, if any confidential grand jury report was leaked to the press, that’s the only crime committed here,” he wrote on X.
The report also named Ashley Moody, who was attorney general at the time, and said the investigation found Moody “authorized” the settlement agreement with Centene, which included the money that would be transferred to the Hope Florida Foundation. Moody was later appointed to the U.S. Senate by DeSantis.
Moody and Uthmeier are up for reelection in November.
The grand jury investigation into the Medicaid settlement funds began after Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who chaired the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, started to look into the matter during the 2025 legislative session.
During the House probe, Andrade, an attorney, accused Uthmeier and Jeff Aaron, a lawyer representing the foundation with close ties to the DeSantis administration, of violating the law with the settlement and the foundation’s subsequent grants.
Andrade declined to comment for this story.
Last October, months after confirming there was an open investigation into the settlement, State Attorney Jack Campbell issued subpoenas for witnesses to appear before the grand jury, but the results of the grand jury investigation had remained hidden from the public until Wednesday, when published by CBS Miami.
For months, Uthmeier, DeSantis and other Republican leaders dismissed questions about the investigation. Hours before the CBS Miami story was published, DeSantis called the scandal a “hoax.”
Democrats fired back Wednesday evening, with Sen. Tracie Davis of Jacksonville, who is in line to be Senate Democratic Leader after the November elections, calling the report’s findings “an egregious abuse of power.”
“The report asked the legislature to make sure that our laws are strong enough to prevent corruption and ensure transparency of public funds,” Davis said in a statement. “To that end, I plan to file legislation in the upcoming legislative session to prevent this type of outrageous abuse from ever happening again.”
Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon, the Democratic candidate running against Moody for U.S. Senate, called on Moody to resign for her role in the Hope Florida scandal.
“None of this is leadership. None of this shows good judgment. None of this shows courage,” Nixon said in a statement. “She has broken the public trust, and she must resign immediately.”
