Hope Florida Scandal Explained

Hope Florida, the welfare-assistance initiative championed by Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, became the center of a major political scandal after $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement was directed to the Hope Florida Foundation and then rapidly transferred through nonprofit organizations to political committees fighting a 2024 marijuana legalization amendment. In August 2026, a leaked Florida grand jury report concluded that the DeSantis administration had “misappropriated” the $10 million as part of a “sophisticated scheme to fund political activities,” although jurors said there was insufficient evidence to criminally charge any individual.

What Is Hope Florida?

Casey DeSantis launched Hope Florida in 2021. The initiative uses state-employed “Hope Navigators” to connect Floridians receiving public assistance or facing financial difficulties with churches, charities, businesses and other community resources. The program says its objective is to help participants achieve economic self-sufficiency and reduce dependence on government assistance. [Hope Florida] [Florida DCF]

The Hope Florida Foundation serves as a fundraising arm connected to the initiative. Private donations collected through the Hope Florida operation were intended to support local nonprofit organizations serving families and other Floridians in need. [Hope Florida]

The $67 Million Centene Medicaid Settlement

The scandal began with allegations that Medicaid contractor Centene had overcharged Florida. Centene, one of Florida’s largest Medicaid managed-care contractors, faced claims involving prescription-drug costs and ultimately agreed to a $67 million settlement with the state. [PolitiFact] [AP]

Florida had been discussing a settlement with Centene for years before the agreement suddenly moved forward in September 2024. The grand jury found that Centene had offered approximately $67 million to resolve the dispute well before the final deal, but the settlement remained unresolved for years before moving rapidly shortly before the 2024 election. [Florida Trident] [CBS Miami]

The settlement was changed to send $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. A September 12, 2024 draft would have directed $62 million to the state and $5 million to Hope Florida. One day later, another version reduced the state’s share to $57 million and doubled Hope Florida’s payment to $10 million. [CBS Miami]

The grand jury said it could not determine why the Hope Florida payment doubled. Its investigation found no clear explanation for why the proposed foundation payment increased from $5 million to $10 million during the last stages of settlement negotiations. [CBS Miami]

Centene Raised Questions About The $10 Million

Centene’s lawyers sought protection before sending money to the foundation. According to the grand jury report, Centene was concerned about being directed to send part of a state settlement to a nonprofit associated with the governor’s wife’s signature initiative. [CBS Miami]

The final settlement explicitly stated that Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration was directing the payment. The wording became important because the DeSantis administration later characterized the $10 million as a private donation rather than state money. [PolitiFact] [CBS Miami]

Florida nevertheless calculated the federal government’s Medicaid share using the entire $67 million settlement. State officials confirmed that Florida reimbursed the federal government based on the full settlement rather than treating the $10 million sent to Hope Florida as unrelated private money. Legal experts cited by PolitiFact said that fact undercut the administration’s argument that the Hope Florida payment was simply a private charitable donation. [PolitiFact]

$10 Million Arrives At Hope Florida

Centene transferred the $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation in October 2024. Foundation chairman Joshua Hay later testified that the payment was extraordinary for the organization, whose previous largest donation had reportedly been approximately $100,000. [CBS Miami]

Hay said he learned that the enormous payment was coming shortly before it arrived. The grand jury reported that Hope Florida attorney Jeff Aaron informed Hay about the incoming money and that Hay soon learned the foundation would receive two applications seeking $5 million each. [CBS Miami]

The Hope Florida Foundation gave away all $10 million within approximately 25 days. The money was divided between Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society From Drugs. [Florida Trident] [WUSF]

Two $5 Million Grants

Secure Florida’s Future received $5 million. The nonprofit, associated with the Florida Chamber of Commerce, submitted an application describing plans including webinars, podcasts, summits and other activities promoting Hope Florida. [Florida Trident]

Save Our Society From Drugs also received $5 million. The anti-drug organization submitted its application after James Uthmeier, who was then Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff, personally contacted executive director Amy Ronshausen and directed her to apply for a Hope Florida grant, according to the grand jury report. [Florida Trident]

The grand jury said both grant applications mischaracterized how the money would be used. The applications represented that the grants would not be used for political activity, but millions of dollars were soon transferred to a political committee involved in the 2024 election. [Florida Trident]

$8.5 Million Goes To Keep Florida Clean

The two nonprofits sent a combined $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean. Secure Florida’s Future transferred at least $3.75 million traced by the grand jury, while Save Our Society From Drugs transferred $4.75 million. [Florida Trident] [WUSF]

Keep Florida Clean was controlled by James Uthmeier. Uthmeier chaired the political committee while simultaneously serving as DeSantis’ chief of staff. He was one of the leading figures in the campaign against Amendment 3, the 2024 ballot initiative seeking to legalize recreational marijuana. [AP] [WUSF]

The money continued moving through additional political organizations. The grand jury traced $7 million from Keep Florida Clean to the Republican Party of Florida and approximately $1.23 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another political committee associated with Uthmeier and DeSantis. The Republican Party later returned $2 million to Keep Florida Clean. [WUSF] [Florida Trident]

Amendment 3 Marijuana Campaign

Keep Florida Clean was created to fight Florida’s recreational marijuana amendment. Amendment 3 would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults in Florida. DeSantis strongly opposed the proposal and publicly campaigned against it. [AP]

Amendment 3 received a majority of votes but still failed. Approximately 56 percent of voters supported the amendment, but constitutional amendments in Florida require 60 percent approval. [CBS Miami]

Political groups receiving money connected to the Hope Florida transfers spent millions opposing Amendment 3. That connection transformed questions about the foundation’s accounting practices into a broader controversy over whether state settlement money had effectively been used for partisan political purposes. [AP]

James Uthmeier’s Role

The grand jury identified Uthmeier as a central figure in the money trail. Its report said that as DeSantis’ chief of staff he was “in a position of authority” over officials involved in the Centene settlement and that testimony identified him as having a role in directing the money after it reached Hope Florida. [CBS Miami] [AP]

Uthmeier’s own political committee received most of the money traced from the foundation grants. The grand jury described Keep Florida Clean as the “prime recipient” of the majority of the $10 million. [CBS Miami]

DeSantis later appointed Uthmeier Florida attorney general. Uthmeier became attorney general in February 2025 after DeSantis appointed then-Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate. The Hope Florida transfers occurred while Uthmeier was still serving as the governor’s chief of staff. [WUSF]

Uthmeier denies wrongdoing. He has said he committed no crime, was not a target of the grand jury investigation and has described the controversy as politically motivated. [AP] [CBS Miami]

Ashley Moody’s Role

Ashley Moody was Florida attorney general when the Centene agreement was approved. Her office participated in reviewing the settlement that directed $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. [PolitiFact]

Moody’s chief deputy expressed concerns about the arrangement. John Guard told the grand jury that he had reservations about the $10 million payment and agreed in principle that the money belonged to Florida taxpayers and would ordinarily fall under the Legislature’s spending authority. [CBS Miami]

Guard said he raised his concerns with Moody. According to the grand jury report, language in the settlement was subsequently modified so that the Agency for Health Care Administration, rather than the attorney general, was identified as directing Centene to send the $10 million to Hope Florida. [CBS Miami]

The grand jury said Moody authorized Guard to sign the final settlement. It concluded that Moody knew about the plan to divert part of the Centene payment to Hope Florida, although there is no evidence that her office knew in advance that the foundation money would later be routed to political organizations. [CBS Miami] [PolitiFact]

Moody says her office did not know how Hope Florida would spend the money. She has said several agencies approved the settlement and that her office had no advance knowledge that Hope Florida would subsequently transfer the funds to nonprofits and political committees. [AP]

Hope Florida Foundation Governance Problems

A Republican-led Florida House investigation uncovered serious deficiencies in the foundation’s management. Foundation chairman Joshua Hay acknowledged in April 2025 that “mistakes were made.” Lawmakers learned the organization had operated without basic governance practices including regular meeting minutes, bylaws and a budget. [Miami Herald] [AP]

The foundation had also failed to file required tax documents. Hay testified that the charity had not timely filed tax returns and acknowledged shortcomings in its reporting procedures. [Miami Herald]

The foundation lacked a formal process for monitoring how grant recipients spent money. That became particularly significant because its two extraordinary $5 million grants were quickly followed by multimillion-dollar political contributions from the recipient organizations. [AP]

Hay told the grand jury that he approved transfers without asking many questions. He said he had been under the impression that the money would ultimately help people affected by hurricanes. [Florida Trident]

Republican House Investigation

Florida House Republicans opened an investigation in 2025. State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Pensacola Republican who chaired the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, led hearings examining the Centene settlement, Hope Florida Foundation and subsequent political transfers. [AP]

Andrade eventually alleged that the transactions could amount to money laundering and wire fraud. He publicly accused Uthmeier and other participants in the transfers of participating in a conspiracy and forwarded his findings to law-enforcement authorities. Those were Andrade’s allegations and did not result in criminal convictions. [WUSF] [AP]

The House investigation effectively stalled after key witnesses refused to continue cooperating. Representatives of the nonprofit organizations involved challenged Andrade’s conduct and declined to testify further, and the legislative inquiry was eventually closed with the matter referred to prosecutors. [AP]

Grand Jury Investigation

A Leon County grand jury was convened in October 2025. State Attorney Jack Campbell opened the investigation after the Florida House inquiry raised possible criminal concerns about the handling of the settlement money. [WUSF]

The grand jury completed a presentment in January 2026. A presentment allows a grand jury to report governmental misconduct, inefficiency or misuse of public funds even when the evidence does not support a criminal indictment. [WUSF]

The report remained sealed for approximately seven months. News organizations and government-transparency advocates sought information about the report while its existence and contents remained hidden through confidential court proceedings. [Florida Trident] [WUSF]

Grand Jury Finds $10 Million Was Misappropriated

The leaked grand jury report concluded that the DeSantis administration misappropriated the money. CBS News Miami obtained the document in August 2026 and reported that jurors concluded the $10 million had been diverted as part of a “sophisticated scheme to fund political activities.” [CBS Miami] [AP]

The grand jury concluded that taxpayer money had been used for political purposes. It rejected the idea that the transaction could be understood simply as an independent private donation by Centene. [AP]

Jurors were unable to determine who originally decided to divert the $10 million to Hope Florida. The report said witnesses either would not accept responsibility for that decision or said they could not remember who made it. [AP]

The grand jury believed the timing was connected to the approaching election. After noting how quickly the previously stalled settlement suddenly moved and how rapidly the money was distributed, jurors wrote that they believed the rush resulted from the election being approximately 45 days away. [Florida Trident]

No Criminal Charges

The grand jury declined to criminally charge anyone. Although it concluded that the money had been misappropriated, jurors said they lacked sufficient evidence to establish which specific individuals were criminally responsible. [AP]

Gov. DeSantis, Uthmeier and Moody were not called to testify before the grand jury. The report instead relied on testimony from other officials and participants involved in the settlement and transfer process. [Florida Trident] [CBS Miami]

The grand jury recommended new laws to prevent similar transactions. Jurors called for legislation requiring money received by the state to be deposited into the General Revenue Fund and for stronger rules governing how organizations receiving taxpayer money track, monitor and spend it. [Florida Trident]

Grand Jury Questions Hope Florida’s Effectiveness

The grand jury said it could not substantiate claims about Hope Florida’s success. The DeSantis administration has promoted the initiative as having helped tens of thousands of Floridians reduce or eliminate reliance on public assistance. [Hope Florida]

Jurors said witnesses provided sharply different descriptions of what Hope Florida actually was. The report said some witnesses portrayed it as a high-profile and successful initiative, while others described it as little more than a concept and could not clearly explain where or how it operated. [Florida Trident]

The grand jury questioned the connection between the Medicaid settlement and the foundation. Even if Hope Florida’s stated mission could have justified receiving money recovered from a Medicaid contractor, jurors noted that the $10 million remained with the foundation only briefly before being transferred elsewhere. [CBS Miami]

Casey DeSantis Connection

Hope Florida is closely identified with Casey DeSantis. The first lady has promoted the initiative since its 2021 launch, appeared at expansion announcements and made it a central element of her public work in Florida. [Hope Florida] [Florida DCF]

The scandal does not establish that Casey DeSantis personally ordered the disputed transfers. The grand jury’s findings focused on the DeSantis administration, the settlement process, Foundation officials and Uthmeier’s role in directing money after it reached Hope Florida. No criminal charges were filed against Casey DeSantis or anyone else. [AP]

Ron DeSantis Responds

Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly defended Hope Florida and rejected allegations of wrongdoing. He has characterized the controversy as a politically motivated “hoax” and said there was nothing improper about how the settlement was handled. [CBS Miami] [AP]

DeSantis says he was not involved in negotiating the Centene settlement. After the grand jury report became public, he said he had not participated in the settlement agreement while also saying he was pleased with how the matter had been handled. [CBS Miami]

DeSantis focused criticism on whoever leaked the sealed report. He argued that leaking confidential grand jury material could itself constitute a crime and said there would be consequences for whoever disclosed it. [CBS Miami] [AP]

Hope Florida Audit

The foundation commissioned an outside financial audit amid the controversy. Its board approved a draft audit prepared by Texas accounting firm Atchley Associates in March 2026. [WUSF]

The audit did not resolve the central legal and ethical questions involving the $10 million. It focused on whether the foundation’s financial statements were accurately presented rather than examining whether accepting and transferring the Centene money was appropriate or legal. [WUSF]

The audit showed how dramatically the $10 million transformed the foundation’s finances. Approximately 89 percent of the organization’s support and revenue for the fiscal year ending June 2025 came from a single donor associated with the settlement. During the previous fiscal year, the foundation had received less than $868,000 and distributed approximately $40,000 in grants. [WUSF]

Political Fallout

The leaked grand jury report renewed calls for investigations and resignations. Democratic candidates running against Uthmeier and Moody in 2026 called for additional scrutiny and argued that the report showed senior Florida officials had failed to safeguard taxpayer money. [CBS Miami]

Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly called for the investigation to be reopened. Jolly said the grand jury findings warranted further examination and made the scandal an issue in Florida’s 2026 governor’s race. [AP]

Uthmeier and Moody entered the 2026 election cycle with the controversy unresolved politically even though the grand jury filed no charges. Uthmeier is seeking election as attorney general after being appointed to the position, while Moody is seeking election to the U.S. Senate seat to which DeSantis appointed her in 2025. [AP]

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