Grand Jury Probes Hope Florida $10M Fund Routing

Prosecutors in Leon County have convened a grand jury and issued witness subpoenas for the week of Oct. 13 in a criminal probe into the Hope Florida Foundation, according to reporting by the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald and other outlets. The investigation centers on $10 million from a Centene Medicaid settlement that was sent to Hope Florida and then largely routed — via $5 million grants to nonprofits — to Keep Florida Clean, a political committee led by James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ chief of staff at the time and is now Florida’s attorney general. Keep Florida Clean campaigned against last year’s proposed constitutional amendments, including measures to legalize recreational marijuana and related abortion-rights efforts. Republican Rep. Alex Andrade turned documents over to State Attorney Jack Campbell’s office, and media reports say subpoenas include current and former DeSantis staffers, reportedly John Guard and Kate Strickland, though officials have not publicly confirmed who has been called and Campbell declined to comment. Governor Ron DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and Uthmeier have defended the Hope Florida program and denied wrongdoing as the grand jury process moves forward.