Florida grand jury finds DeSantis administration misused $10m from Medicaid settlement

A Florida grand jury has concluded that the administration of Governor Ron DeSantis improperly diverted $10m in taxpayer funds from a Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, a charity connected to the governor's wife, Casey DeSantis. The report, dated 28 January, was published Wednesday by CBS News Miami despite remaining officially sealed.

According to the jury, the foundation received the $10m in 2024 from a settlement between the state and Centene, a contractor for the government health insurance program serving low-income residents. The funds were quickly moved from the foundation into two political action committees, part of which reportedly financed a campaign against a ballot measure to legalize marijuana, while other funds went to the Florida Republican Party.

The jury found that no witness took responsibility for the decision to direct the money to Hope Florida, and no one recalled who made that call. While the panel could not prove who was responsible, it stated that taxpayer money had clearly been misused for political purposes, and recommended a new law requiring that any funds received by the state be deposited into general revenue, with real consequences for violations.

DeSantis denied any wrongdoing Thursday, describing the settlement as legally sound and calling the leak of the report the only apparent crime. He insisted his wife had not been involved.

The jury also pointed to Attorney General James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis's chief of staff at the time and whose political committee reportedly received the bulk of the funds. Uthmeier declined to confirm the report's accuracy, citing legal restrictions, but dismissed it as a debunked hoax. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody, now a senator, denied her office had knowledge of how the settlement money would be spent.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly said he would reopen an investigation into the matter if elected.