Florida Grand Jury Finds DeSantis Administration Misappropriated $10 Million in Taxpayer Funds for Political Purposes

A Florida state grand jury has found that the DeSantis administration "misappropriated" taxpayer money when it diverted $10 million from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, arguing the transfer was "part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities," according to a sealed grand jury report obtained by CBS News Miami.

The money, which was supposed to be used to provide health insurance for poor children, was instead hastily passed through multiple organizations before eventually landing in the bank accounts of two political action committees and the Republican Party of Florida. Those funds were then used in 2024 to defeat Amendment 3, the citizen initiative to legalize marijuana in Florida.

The grand jury report concluded that while the money was misappropriated, there was insufficient evidence to charge anyone criminally. "Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida… or had any memory of who made it," the report stated. "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."

The grand jury identified the nexus for much of the activity surrounding the transfer as the state's current attorney general, James Uthmeier. At the time of the settlement, Uthmeier served as Governor Ron DeSantis's chief of staff. The report noted that Uthmeier was "in a position of authority over those involved in settling" and that testimony revealed his political action committee, Keep Florida Clean, was "the prime recipient of the majority of the $10 million taxpayer funds."

The grand jury also concluded that Ashley Moody, who was attorney general at the time, was aware of the plans to divert the $10 million to Hope Florida and authorized her former chief deputy, John Guard, to sign the settlement agreement. Guard, who was appointed to the state appeals court by DeSantis, signed the settlement "without conducting his due diligence to ensure the proper appropriation of taxpayer funds."

In response, Guard wrote that "requests for the Department of Legal Affairs to join settlements weren't uncommon, and this settlement was handled in the ordinary course by the Department." Moody, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate by DeSantis, has refused repeated requests for comment. She is up for election in November.

DeSantis has also avoided publicly answering questions about what he knew of the diversion. On Wednesday, when asked about Hope Florida during a news conference, DeSantis said, "I wasn't involved in the settlement agreement, but I'm very happy with how everything was done." He continued to call it a "hoax."

Neither Moody nor DeSantis nor Uthmeier was called before the Tallahassee grand jury to testify.

A History of the Settlement

In 2021, Florida officials learned the health care giant Centene had been overbilling the state for prescription drugs under the Florida Healthy Kids program. Florida's share was calculated to be $67,048,611. While other states settled their cases, Florida did nothing for three years. In early September 2024, state officials contacted Centene and said they wanted to immediately resolve the dispute only with a new condition.

On Sept. 12, 2024, the state altered the agreement, deciding that only $62 million should be returned to the state and $5 million to the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit set up to support First Lady Casey DeSantis's Hope Florida initiative. The next day, the amount going to Hope Florida was increased to $10 million with no reason given.

Centene's lawyers demanded the settlement include wording making it clear Centene was being directed by the Florida attorney general to send the $10 million to Hope Florida. Moody, however, did not want to be responsible. According to the grand jury report, Guard had "reservations" about the deal and political concerns about the Legislature's reaction. As a result, the settlement was rewritten so that DeSantis's Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) was directing Centene to send the $10 million to Hope Florida.

On Oct. 4, 2024, Centene transferred the $10 million into the Hope Florida Foundation bank account. Within 25 days, it was gone. The money was distributed as two $5 million grants to Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida's Future. These organizations then transferred $8.5 million to Uthmeier's PAC, Keep Florida Clean. Uthmeier's PAC then sent $7 million to the Republican Party of Florida and $1.23 million to another PAC he chaired, the Florida Freedom Fund.

Recommendations for Change

The grand jury recommended the Florida Legislature enact laws requiring all state monies to be deposited into the General Fund and mandating tracking and monitoring of how taxpayer funds are used by nonprofits. "As taxpayer money," the grand jury concluded, "it should have been treated as such instead of being allocated for partisan political purposes and without transparency."