Outrage, call for change continue to mount following Hope Florida grand jury report

The fallout from the grand jury report into the Hope Florida scandal continues to grow.

The grand jury found the DeSantis Administration "misappropriated" $10 million of taxpayer money as part of a "sophisticated scheme to fund political activities."

The $10 million was first sent to the Hope Florida Foundation, a nonprofit established to support First Lady Casey DeSantis' Hope Florida initiative. But the money was quickly routed through two different nonprofits before making its way into a dark-money political action committee controlled by James Uthmeier. From there, most of it was rerouted to the Republican Party of Florida's bank account.

The grand jury said they couldn't bring criminal charges because no one would take responsibility for the decision to divert the $10 million.

At the time of the transfer, Uthmeier was DeSantis's chief of staff. Four months after the transfer, DeSantis appointed him to be Florida Attorney General. He is up for election in November.

His Democratic opponent, former State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez, seized the grand jury report to argue Uthmeier was unfit to serve.

"This may well be the most brazen act of political corruption we have seen here in Florida," Rodriguez said. "My opponent is a criminal. He's a criminal who should resign. He should come clean and turn himself in."

The grand jury also criticized Ashley Moody, who was the attorney general at the time. The grand jury said Moody and her office failed to exercise due diligence and ensure taxpayer money wasn't being misspent. Four months after the transfer, DeSantis appointed Moody to the United States Senate.

"So this is the ultimate betrayal of working families," said State Representative Angie Nixon, who is challenging Moody in the Senate race. "Think about this, Ashley Moody stole $10 million from children in Florida. Everyone involved in this, Ashley Moody included, should resign. They should resign. Enough is enough."

David Jolly, the Democratic nominee for Governor, also pointed to the grand jury report as a sign that one-party rule in Tallahassee has led to this type of blatant corruption.

He said that if he is elected, he will reopen the grand jury investigation to ensure the truth is uncovered.

"I just think where you smell corruption, you pursue it," Jolly said. "I don't trust our sitting Attorney General [Uthmeier] to do that. Clearly, he's a subject of this investigation. I think the Office of the Governor should reopen a fact-finding investigation into exactly what happened, and to see if the holes that the grand jury identified as needing additional support and information can be provided by additional fact-finders."

But the criticism of DeSantis and his administration wasn't limited to Democrats. Republican Senator Rick Scott issued a statement saying the grand jury's findings were "deeply concerning," telling Politico's Gary Fineout, "Money designated to help poor kids was diverted to political ads. Florida families deserve accountability, not more finger-pointing in Tallahassee."

And Republican State Senator Don Gaetz agreed with Scott and said the entire affair was an embarrassment to the state.

"I believe it brings disgrace onto the Florida government, and I want to be part of a bipartisan coalition that simply makes sure this doesn't happen again," he said. "But God forbid it did, there would be serious consequences on those who are in any way involved."

As you might imagine, DeSantis and Uthmeier had a different view, not only arguing that there was nothing wrong with diverting taxpayer dollars into their dark-money political campaign against the marijuana amendment, but also focusing on how the report was made public.

"Well, the only crime that was apparent was whoever leaked the grand jury report," DeSantis said. "When you violate the law like this by releasing, there's going to be consequences for that in a variety of different ways."

During his press conference, Uthmeier threatened to bring criminal charges against reporters who asked him about the report's contents.

"Are you trying to solicit a crime here in violation of the law? I did not think so," he said with a smirk. "I did not think so. Here's what I'll say. Nobody did anything wrong here; there was not even probable cause to move forward. This is a hoax."

Barbara Petersen, the executive director of the Florida Center for Government Accountability, said the public had every right to see the contents of the grand jury report.

"That $10 million was taxpayer money," said Petersen, who has been fighting for decades in Florida to make sure the public has access to records and information. "And taxpayers have a right to know what government is doing with its money and how it is spending its money. And in this particular case, they took taxpayer funds to promote a political agenda of the governor. That is critical public information, something that the public needs to know so that it can hold its government accountable for its actions."

"It's a very basic premise," she continued. "In Florida, we have a constitutional right of access to information about our government. We have a constitutional right of access to records. We have constitutional right to access to meetings. And since day one, DeSantis and his administration have shown nothing but disrespect and disregard for the public's right to know what he and his administration are doing. And this is just to me, you know, a prime example. Of their total disregard for the public, and the public's right to know."

Petersen said she was appalled to hear the Attorney General threatening to criminally charge a reporter who asked a question about the grand jury report.

"How stupid do they think we are, that we would fall for that," she said. "DeSantis has said the report was a hoax. Uthmeier said it was a nothing burger. Then why did they spend seven months trying to keep it secret? And that's what they've done. They do not want the public to know how they misappropriated public funds. It's as simple as that. And it shows utter disdain for the public and its rights under the Constitution to hold government accountable."

Which raises another question: If DeSantis and Uthmeier did nothing wrong and everything was up and up – why won't anyone step forward and take responsibility for making the decision to send $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation?

It's a question we will continue to pursue.