Leon County prosecutors have convened a grand jury to explore possible wrongdoing associated with Hope Florida, according to a report Friday by the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau.
State Attorney Jack Campbell’s office over the past few weeks issued subpoenas for witnesses to appear before the grand jury during the week of Oct. 13, the Times/Herald report said. The witnesses were not identified. Campbell did not comment when asked Friday by The News Service of Florida about the report. Campbell’s office in May confirmed that records related to a state House probe of a nonprofit linked to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ signature Hope Florida assistance program were part of an “open” investigation.
House Health Care Budget Chairman Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, submitted records to Campbell’s office related to the Hope Florida Foundation’s receipt of $10 million as part of a $67 million legal settlement that Centene — Florida’s largest Medicaid managed-care company — reached last fall with the Agency for Health Care Administration.
After receiving the money from the settlement, the foundation gave $5 million grants to Secure Florida’s Future, a nonprofit tied to the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Save our Society from Drugs. The groups within days made contributions to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee headed by James Uthmeier, who was then Ron DeSantis’ chief of staff and is now state attorney general. Keep Florida Clean fought a proposed constitutional amendment in November that would have allowed recreational use of marijuana.
The governor and the first lady have vigorously defended the Hope Florida program, which operates through numerous state agencies and, in part, serves as a referral service to churches and other private entities that can offer assistance to families seeking aid.
Report: Grand Jury to Eye Hope Florida added by The News Service of Florida on
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@Edward Lyle –
“@ DeepStatePropagandist: I presume you are equally “shocked” when a liberal/progressive engages in fraud, yes?”
Sure. Like when Tom Homan is *on camera* taking 50K from the FBI? Oh wait, he is a Republican. Ooops. By the way, are you still holding onto any TrumpCoins? I’m sure they’ll be worth something soon and the entire thing wasn’t a grift on dumb people. Same with Melania coin!
But sure. I love that Dennis Hastert got indicted. He should have. I think Pelosi should be banned for how much trading she’s doing. Whatever.
That’s the double standard though. No one is calling for Tom Homan to resign. No one is calling for DeSantis to explain what the hell happened. No one (on the Republican side) is admitting that TrumpCoin, and Trump Bibles, and Trump Watches, are total scams.
*Both sides are not the same*
@ DeepStatePropagandist: I presume you are equally “shocked” when a liberal/progressive engages in fraud, yes?
Oh, that’s right… it’s only wrong when the other guys do it. Never mind.
I am shocked, *shocked* that a conservative would engage in fraud. After all, I don’t remember at all that Rick Scott was CEO of a company who got the largest fine in history (at the time) for defrauding the federal government.
I am sure there is a completely honest explanation for why 10M of funds from a settlement was not deposited into state coffers *as is state law*. Mrs. DeSantis will surely explain what happens soon!