Hope Florida scandal

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The Hope Florida scandal is an ongoing political scandal that arose after the Hope Florida Foundation, founded by First Lady Casey DeSantis, received $10 million from a Medicaid fraud legal settlement between Centene Corporation and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) and then diverted the proceeds to political action committees (PACs) with ties to the Ron DeSantis administration and the Republican Party of Florida to oppose the 2024 recreational marijuana ballot measure. Hope Florida's chairman admitted mistakes and "lapses in reporting procedures", including missing federal tax reports.

Ron and Casey DeSantis speaking at a Hope Florida event in July 2024

In 2025, the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives under House Speaker Daniel Perez opened an investigation into the accusations of money laundering and wire fraud, but halted its investigation after Hope Florida refused to continue cooperating.

In May 2025, State Attorney Jack Campbell opened a criminal investigation into the allegations of political corruption. On January 28, 2026, a grand jury found that the DeSantis administration illegally misappropriated $10 million in taxpayer money to Hope Florida, but did not criminally indict anyone because they could not prove who exactly was responsible. The grand jury report was unknown to the public until August 2026, when it was leaked to CBS News. On October 7, 2026, a Florida appellate court ordered the grand jury's report to be expunged and rejected its conclusion that $10 million tied to a Medicaid settlement had been misappropriated as the transfer of money between Centere and Hope Florida was not public money and entirely legal.

Background

In 2021, First Lady Casey DeSantis founded Hope Florida, a charity to connect underprivileged Floridians with government resources, nonprofits, the private sector and religious organizations. The foundation was created to aid Hope Florida, whose "Navigators" are state employees that work with people to find solutions from the private sector, faith-based communities, and nonprofits to help them use all the local community resources available and reduce the need for the government's help.

The 2024 Florida Amendment 3 was a proposed constitutional amendment to the Florida Constitution subject to a direct voter referendum on November 5, 2024, that would have legalized cannabis for possession, purchase, and recreational use in Florida for adults 21 years or older. The amendment achieved a majority 56% support among voters in the U.S. state of Florida but failed to reach the 60% supermajority required for adoption. During the campaign, Governor Ron DeSantis publicly opposed the amendment and multiple political committees spent millions of dollars to ensure its defeat, one PAC having been led by his then-chief of staff.

Events

Centene Corporation is Florida's biggest Medicaid contractor and overbilled Florida $67 million in 2021. Their discussions with Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) ended in 2024 and Centene agreed to return the $67 million to the federal and state governments. $10 million of that was sent to Hope Florida Foundation, which disbursed the funds to two "dark money" political groups opposed to the 2024 Florida Amendment 3, Marijuana Legalization Initiative. The Florida Governor and first lady were adamantly opposed to its passage. Although a majority of Floridians (55.9%) voted for the issue, a super-majority of 60% was required for approval, so it failed to pass. Millions of dollars in taxpayer money were spent by DeSantis on negative advertisements in the days leading up to the election with both DeSantises making daily appearances to oppose the amendment.

State Representative Alex Andrade, the Republican who led the bipartisan investigation into Hope Florida, alleged that James Uthmeier, then DeSantis' chief of staff, directed two non-profit groups, Secure Florida's Future, chaired by Florida Chamber of Commerce president Mark Wilson, and Save our Society from Drugs, to request money from Hope Florida Foundation. HFF sent $5 million grants to each of the groups, which in turn forwarded the money to the political committee "Keep Florida Clean", whose chairperson was Uthmeier. Uthmeier has claimed he was not involved and is presently the Florida attorney general, appointed by DeSantis. Andrade claims that text messages from Save our Society from Drugs show Uthmeier's involvement and accused him of money laundering and wire fraud.

Investigations

State investigations

In early 2025, the Florida House of Representatives briefly investigated the Hope Florida Foundation, but ended its investigation due to "lack of cooperation" from the DeSantis administration.

On May 20, 2025, State Attorney Jack Campbell of the Second Judicial Circuit Court opened a criminal investigation into the alleged money laundering and wire fraud scheme. In a statement to the press, Campbell said: "As for (an) investigation, the only source of information I have received is from members of the press," and "The Florida Legislature has many good lawyers including some former prosecutors. I am sure they would refer any evidence of crimes to me if they found them."

In October 2025, state prosecutors issued multiple subpoenas for witnesses to testify before a grand jury. On October 14, 2025, several current and former DeSantis administration officials were questioned during the inquiry about a "conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud". In January 2026, a grand jury found that the DeSantis administration misappropriated taxpayer money when it diverted $10 million from a Medicaid settlement in 2021 into the Hope Florida Foundation, arguing the transfer was "part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities". Additionally, the grand jury suggests that the DeSantis administration took advantage of the disorder caused by Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton to covertly fund the campaign against the 2024 Florida Amendment 3, Marijuana Legalization Initiative. No criminal charges were recommended because the grand jury could not determine who was specifically responsible for the misuse of taxpayer money for political purposes. However, the grand jury implicated James Uthmeier, then DeSantis' chief of staff, Ashley Moody, then Florida's Attorney General, and Jason Weida, then the secretary of AHCA. The grand jury's report was leaked in August 2026 to CBS News, despite alleged attempts from Attorney General Uthmeier to prevent its release.

According to the report, Moody, then Florida's attorney general, authorized her chief deputy, John Guard, to sign the settlement agreement with Centene. Guard testified that he had reservations about the arrangement, acknowledging the $10 million was taxpayer money that belonged to the state and that Florida law required the legislature, not the executive branch, to decide how it was spent. The settlement was subsequently rewritten so that the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, rather than the attorney general's office, was listed as directing Centene to send the funds to Hope Florida. Moody denied any intentional wrongdoing or knowledge of how the funds would ultimately be spent and was not criminally charged, as the grand jury could not establish individual liability.

On October 7, 2026, a three-judge panel of the Florida First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the DeSantis administration and ordered the grand jury report to be expunged. The court said that the grand jury's naming and condemnation of individuals without filing criminal indictments exceeded the grand jury’s authority. Additionally, the court held that the grand jury's conclusion finding the DeSantis administration culpable had no basis because the $10 million was never public money, as Centere provided the money directly to Hope Florida. The court said that there is no law prohibiting state-negotiated settlements agreements from giving monies to private third-parties such as Hope Florida.

Federal investigation

Upon the urging of multiple Florida congress members, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are reviewing a potential federal investigation.

Reactions

After the controversy became public, the DeSantises received bipartisan condemnation from Florida political leaders. Governor DeSantis spoke to the press, saying: "Everything that’s been thrown at [Hope Florida] is pure politics," and "I believe in this program deeply and stand by it 100%." In regards to the two $5 million donations, DeSantis said: "This was in addition to what they [Hope Florida] were getting. This is kind of like a cherry on top where they agreed to make an additional contribution." DeSantis has pursued political retribution against Republicans who have criticized his actions.

Governor DeSantis speaking at a Hope Florida conference in Lake County, Florida, April 2025

Attorney Jeff Aaron is the Registered Agent for the Hope Florida Foundation and provided legal services. The Orlando Business Journal called him the "right-hand man" of Ron DeSantis. His legal work history includes representing the governor when Andrew H. Warren sued DeSantis following Warren's suspension as Hillsborough County state attorney in 2022. Warren claimed DeSantis violated his First Amendment rights. In January 2024, a 3-judge Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that DeSantis did violate Warren's First Amendment rights, but DeSantis requested a hearing before the full court. When Warren's original term of office ended in January 2025 before that hearing was conducted, the court dismissed the case as moot. Aaron was appointed to the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC) by DeSantis in 2021 as a "part-time" commissioner and earns approximately $78K yearly from the state. He was reappointed by DeSantis in 2025 to serve until 2029. Under Florida Statute 447, members of PERC "shall not be employed by, or hold any commission with, any governmental unit in the state or any employee organization, as defined in this part, while in such office." On April 19, 2025 the Orlando Sentinel stated that Aaron became general counsel of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority in January 2025 at a billing rate of nearly $600 per hour. Aaron referred to the Hope Florida controversy as "a politically motivated witch hunt."

In April 2025, former Republican U.S. representative Matt Gaetz called for the impeachment of James Uthmeier as Attorney General.

In May 2025, the Florida Democratic Party demanded that the Governor reimburse the $10 million to the state government. Later that month, U.S. representatives Kathy Castor and Darren Soto wrote a letter to the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services demanding a federal investigation into "unlawful diversion of Medicaid funds in Florida".

In June 2025, the Florida Legislature defunded the Office of Hope Florida within the Florida Department of Education.

In May 2025, state senator Jay Collins was described as a "vocal advocate" for Hope Florida, saying: "The money was being appropriated and used for the right reasons." In May 2025, Collins spoke alongside DeSantis to defend the "great accomplishments of Hope Florida". In August 2025, Collins praised Hope Florida during his speech at a Republican Party of Florida forum. Later that month, Collins was appointed by DeSantis as Lieutenant Governor of Florida.

In October 2026, following the Florida appellate court's decision absolving the DeSantis administration of any wrongdoing, an Uthmeier spokesman proclaimed "COMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY." DeSantis touted the court's ruling calling it "probably the biggest judicial smackdown that I have ever seen in my entire career as an elected official" and vowed to prosecute anyone who leaked the grand jury report. In contrast, Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried stated, "The ruling doesn't change what happened in the Hope Florida scandal: $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was routed through a charity… and ultimately used to fund a political campaign. This is what unchecked power looks like after decades of one-party rule in Tallahassee. Voters will have the final say this November."

See also

• List of federal political scandals in the United States
• List of lists of American state and local politicians convicted of crimes